Which to use
“know” is a verb and “known” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #84
- “know” frequency rank
- #398
- “known” frequency rank
- 482
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | know | known |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To perceive the truth or factuality of; to be certain of; to be certain that. | Identified as a specific type; famous, renowned. |
Where the eye mixes know and known
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses know with known
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: know is /nəʊ/ while known is /nəʊn/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “know” sits inside “known”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 482, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
know is recorded at frequency rank #84, classified as averb, pronounced /nəʊ/. known is at rank #398, tagged as anadj, pronounced /nəʊn/.
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 482, this pair ranks #529,342 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of know vs known
Shared letters: know. Private to "know": -. Private to "known": -.
"know" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "known" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "know" and "known" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "know" or "known" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "know" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "known" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #529,342 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "know" and "known" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kno vs known". 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 #529,342 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.