Which to use
“fellows” is a noun and “follows” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,333
- “fellows” frequency rank
- #1,634
- “follows” frequency rank
- 10967
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fellows | follows |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of fellow | third-person singular simple present indicative of follow |
Where the eye mixes fellows and follows
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses fellows with follows
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fellows is /ˈfɛloʊz/ while follows is /ˈfɒl.əʊz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “fellows” becomes o in “follows”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10967, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fellows is recorded at frequency rank #9,333, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɛloʊz/. follows is at rank #1,634, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈfɒl.əʊz/.
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 10967, this pair ranks #489,578 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fellows vs follows
Shared letters: flosw. Private to "fellows": e. Private to "follows": -.
"fellows" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "follows" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fellows" and "follows" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "fellows" vs "follows" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fellows" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "follows" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #489,578 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fellows" and "follows" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fellows vs Fells". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #489,578 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.