Which to use
“goes” is a verb and “goose” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #606
- “goes” frequency rank
- #9,048
- “goose” frequency rank
- 9654
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | goes | goose |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of go | Any of various grazing waterfowl of the family Anatidae, which have feathers and webbed feet and are capable of flying, swimming, and walking on land, and which are generally bigger than ducks. |
Where the eye mixes goes and goose
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: goes is /ɡəʊz/ while goose is /ɡuːs/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9654, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
goes is recorded at frequency rank #606, classified as averb, pronounced /ɡəʊz/. goose is at rank #9,048, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɡuːs/.
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 9654, this pair ranks #496,286 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of goes vs goose
Shared letters: egos. Private to "goes": -. Private to "goose": -.
"goes" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "goose" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV