# governed vs governess

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### governed
*verb · IPA /ˈɡəvɚnd/ · frequency rank #8,936*
simple past and past participle of govern

### governess
*noun · IPA /ˈɡʌvɚnəs/ · frequency rank #34,084*
A woman paid to educate children in their own home.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/governed-vs-governess