Which to use
“kno” and “knows” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,851
- “kno” frequency rank
- #906
- “knows” frequency rank
- 49757
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kno | knows |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Informal spelling of know. | third-person singular simple present indicative of know |
Letter map: kno vs knows
Shared letters muted; letters that set kno and knows apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. kno runs 3 letters (CCV) against knows's 5 (CCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Pair insight - kno / knows
kno and knows are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “kno” sits inside “knows”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49757, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kno is recorded at frequency rank #48,851, classified as averb. knows is at rank #906, tagged as averb, pronounced /nəʊz/.
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 49757, this pair ranks #180,606 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of kno vs knows
Shared letters: kno. Private to "kno": -. Private to "knows": sw.
"kno" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "knows" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- knows ← kknows · knnows · knosw · knowss · knowws · knwos · konws · nkows
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "kno" for "knows" ever safe?
Frequency check: "kno" vs "knows" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pair "kno" vs "knows" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "kno" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "knows" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #180,606 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kno" and "knows" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kno vs Kop". 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 #180,606 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.