Which to use
“goes” and “gone” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #606
- “goes” frequency rank
- #693
- “gone” frequency rank
- 1299
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | goes | gone |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of go | past participle of go |
Where the eye mixes goes and gone
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. goes (/ɡəʊz/) and gone (/ɡɒn/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1299, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
goes is recorded at frequency rank #606, classified as averb, pronounced /ɡəʊz/. gone is at rank #693, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɡɒn/.
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 1299, this pair ranks #527,696 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of goes vs gone
Shared letters: ego. Private to "goes": s. Private to "gone": n.
"goes" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "gone" · 4 letters · shape CVCV