Which to use
“gives” and “goes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #991
- “gives” frequency rank
- #606
- “goes” frequency rank
- 1597
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gives | goes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of give | third-person singular simple present indicative of go |
Where the eye mixes gives and goes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. gives (/ɡɪvz/) and goes (/ɡəʊz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1597, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gives is recorded at frequency rank #991, classified as averb, pronounced /ɡɪvz/. goes is at rank #606, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɡəʊz/.
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 1597, this pair ranks #527,094 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gives vs goes
Shared letters: egs. Private to "gives": iv. Private to "goes": o.
"gives" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "goes" · 4 letters · shape CVVC