Which to use
“goes” and “guess” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #606
- “goes” frequency rank
- #694
- “guess” frequency rank
- 1300
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | goes | guess |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of go | To reach a partly (or totally) unconfirmed conclusion; to engage in conjecture; to speculate. |
Where the eye mixes goes and guess
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. goes (/ɡəʊz/) and guess (/ɡɛs/) 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 1300, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
goes is recorded at frequency rank #606, classified as averb, pronounced /ɡəʊz/. guess is at rank #694, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɡɛs/.
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 1300, this pair ranks #527,690 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of goes vs guess
Shared letters: egs. Private to "goes": o. Private to "guess": u.
"goes" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "guess" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC