FallonvsfollowWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Fallon is a name, follow is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Fallon” is a name and “follow” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,021
“Fallon” frequency rank
#747
“follow” frequency rank
16768
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Fallon follow
Definition A surname from Irish. To go after; to pursue; to move behind in the same path or direction, especially with the intent of catching.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Fallon and follow apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Fallon
6 ch
follow

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Fallon is /ˈfælən/ while follow is /ˈfɒləʊ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16768, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Fallon is recorded at frequency rank #16,021, classified as aname, pronounced /ˈfælən/. follow is at rank #747, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈfɒləʊ/.

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 16768, this pair ranks #455,697 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Fallon vs follow

Shared letters: flo. Private to "Fallon": an. Private to "follow": w.

"Fallon" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "follow" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Fallonafllon · fallno · fallonn · faloln · falon · ffallon · flalon
  • followffollow · flolow · followw · follwo · fololw · folow · ofllow

Frequency comparison

Fallon#16,021
follow#747

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Fallon" and "follow" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Fallon" is a name and "follow" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Fallon" or "follow"?
"follow" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #747 in our English list, against #16,021 for "Fallon". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Fallon vs follow

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “Fallon”; for a verb, it's “follow”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Fallon” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list