incasevsintakeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: incase is a verb, intake is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“incase” is a verb and “intake” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#32,855
“incase” frequency rank
#7,352
“intake” frequency rank
40207
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature incase intake
Definition Alternative spelling of encase. The place where water, air or other fluid is taken into a pipe or conduit; opposed to outlet.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set incase and intake apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
incase
6 ch
intake

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: incase is averb and intakeanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40207, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

incase is recorded at frequency rank #32,855, classified as averb. intake is at rank #7,352, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɪnteɪk/.

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 40207, this pair ranks #269,658 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of incase vs intake

Shared letters: aein. Private to "incase": cs. Private to "intake": kt.

"incase" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "intake" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • incaseicnase · inacse · incaes · incasse · inccase · incsae · inncase · nicase
  • intakeinatke · inntake · intaek · intakke · intkae · inttake · itnake · nitake

Frequency comparison

incase#32,855
intake#7,352

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "incase" and "intake" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "incase" is a verb and "intake" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "incase" or "intake"?
"intake" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,352 in our English list, against #32,855 for "incase". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering incase vs intake

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “incase”; for a noun, it's “intake”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “incase” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list