Which to use
“early” is an adjective and “earns” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #354
- “early” frequency rank
- #13,706
- “earns” frequency rank
- 14060
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | early | earns |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | At a time in advance of the usual or expected event. | third-person singular simple present indicative of earn |
Letter map: early vs earns
Shared letters muted; letters that set early and earns apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: early is anadjective and earnsaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14060, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
early is recorded at frequency rank #354, classified as anadj. earns is at rank #13,706, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɜːnz/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 14060, this pair ranks #472,272 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of early vs earns
Shared letters: aer. Private to "early": ly. Private to "earns": ns.
"early" · 5 letters · shape VVCCV · "earns" · 5 letters · shape VVCCC