Which to use
“grown” and “grows” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,158
- “grown” frequency rank
- #5,331
- “grows” frequency rank
- 7489
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grown | grows |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | past participle of grow | third-person singular simple present indicative of grow |
Where the eye mixes grown and grows
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses grown with grows
A purely visual mix-up. grown (/ɡɹəʊn/) and grows (/ɡɹəʊz/) 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 a single letter - n in “grown” becomes s in “grows”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7489, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
grown is recorded at frequency rank #2,158, classified as averb, pronounced /ɡɹəʊn/. grows is at rank #5,331, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɡɹəʊz/.
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 7489, this pair ranks #506,882 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of grown vs grows
Shared letters: gorw. Private to "grown": n. Private to "grows": s.
"grown" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "grows" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "grown" for "grows" ever safe?
Which is more common, "grown" or "grows"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "grown" and "grows" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "grown" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "grows" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #506,882 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "grown" and "grows" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gronk vs grows". 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 #506,882 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.