Which to use
“know” and “knows” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #84
- “know” frequency rank
- #906
- “knows” frequency rank
- 990
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | know | knows |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To perceive the truth or factuality of; to be certain of; to be certain that. | third-person singular simple present indicative of know |
Where the eye mixes know and knows
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses know with knows
A purely visual mix-up. know (/nəʊ/) and knows (/nəʊz/) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “know” sits inside “knows”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 990, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
know is recorded at frequency rank #84, classified as averb, pronounced /nəʊ/. 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 990, this pair ranks #528,360 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of know vs knows
Shared letters: know. Private to "know": -. Private to "knows": s.
"know" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "knows" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "know" for "knows" ever safe?
Frequency check: "know" vs "knows" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "know" 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 #528,360 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "know" and "knows" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kno vs knows". 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 #528,360 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.