Which to use
“first” is an adjective and “firsts” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #81
- “first” frequency rank
- #30,422
- “firsts” frequency rank
- 30503
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | first | firsts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Preceding all others of a series or kind; the ordinal of one; earliest. | plural of first |
Where the eye mixes first and firsts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses first with firsts
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: first is /fɜːst/ while firsts is /fɜːsts/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “first” sits inside “firsts”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30503, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
first is recorded at frequency rank #81, classified as anadj, pronounced /fɜːst/. firsts is at rank #30,422, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fɜːsts/.
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 30503, this pair ranks #354,020 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of first vs firsts
Shared letters: first. Private to "first": -. Private to "firsts": -.
"first" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "firsts" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "first" and "firsts" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "first" or "firsts"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "first" and "firsts" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "first" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "firsts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #354,020 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "first" and "firsts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "firsts vs frets". 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 #354,020 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.