Which to use
“goff” is a noun and “got” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,066
- “goff” frequency rank
- #130
- “got” frequency rank
- 30196
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | goff | got |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Obsolete form of golf (“ball game”). | Expressing obligation; used with have. |
Letter map: goff vs got
Shared letters muted; letters that set goff and got apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Role in the sentence - goff and got
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: goff is anoun and gotaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30196, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
goff is recorded at frequency rank #30,066, classified as anoun. got is at rank #130, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɡɒt/.
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 30196, this pair ranks #356,606 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of goff vs got
Shared letters: go. Private to "goff": f. Private to "got": t.
"goff" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "got" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- goff ← gfof · ggoff · ogff
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "goff" for "got" ever safe?
Which is more common, "goff" or "got"?
Useful next steps
You've compared "goff" and "got". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "goff" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "got" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #356,606 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "goff" and "got" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "goer vs goff". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #356,606 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.