Which to use
“finish” is a noun and “Finnish” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,305
- “finish” frequency rank
- #11,695
- “Finnish” frequency rank
- 13000
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | finish | Finnish |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An end; the end of anything. | Of or pertaining to Finland or the Finns; Finlandic, Finlandish. |
Same sound, different letters: finish vs Finnish
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. finish runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against Finnish's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - finish / Finnish
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: finish and Finnish carry the same recorded pronunciation, /ˈfɪnɪʃ/. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13000, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
finish is recorded at frequency rank #1,305, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɪnɪʃ/. Finnish is at rank #11,695, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈfɪn.ɪʃ/.
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 13000, this pair ranks #478,290 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of finish vs Finnish
Shared letters: fhins. Private to "finish": -. Private to "Finnish": -.
"finish" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "Finnish" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "finish" for "Finnish" ever safe?
Which is more common, "finish" or "Finnish"?
Useful next steps
You've separated the homophone pair "finish" / "Finnish". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "finish" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Finnish" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #478,290 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "finish" and "Finnish" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Finnish vs Finns". 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 #478,290 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.