Which to use
“grows” is a verb and “growths” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,331
- “grows” frequency rank
- #39,339
- “growths” frequency rank
- 44670
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grows | growths |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of grow | plural of growth |
Where the eye mixes grows and growths
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. grows runs 5 letters (CCVCC) against growths's 7 (CCVCCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between grows and growths
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: grows is /ɡɹəʊz/ while growths is /ɡɹoʊθs/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 44670, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
grows is recorded at frequency rank #5,331, classified as averb, pronounced /ɡɹəʊz/. growths is at rank #39,339, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɡɹoʊθs/.
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 44670, this pair ranks #228,398 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of grows vs growths
Shared letters: gorsw. Private to "grows": -. Private to "growths": ht.
"grows" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "growths" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "grows" and "growths" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "grows" or "growths" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "grows" and "growths" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "grows" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "growths" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #228,398 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "grows" and "growths" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "growls vs growths". 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 #228,398 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.