# former vs formerly

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### former
*adjective · IPA /ˈfɔɹmɚ/ · frequency rank #528*
Previous.

### formerly
*adverb · IPA /ˈfɔɹmɚli/ · frequency rank #4,760*
at some time in the past

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/former-vs-formerly