managervsmanagesWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,143
“manager” frequency rank
#7,813
“manages” frequency rank
8956
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature manager manages
Definition A person whose job is to manage something, such as a business, a restaurant, or a sports team. third-person singular simple present indicative of manage

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set manager and manages apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
manager
7 ch
manages

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

manager and manages form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by a single letter - r in “manager” becomes s in “manages” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8956, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

manager is recorded at frequency rank #1,143, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmæn.ɪ.dʒə/. manages is at rank #7,813, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈmæn.ɪ.d͡ʒɪz/.

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 8956, this pair ranks #499,824 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

manager#1,143
manages#7,813

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "manager" and "manages" be used interchangeably?
No, "manager" and "manages" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering manager vs manages

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “manager”; for a verb, it's “manages”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “manager” 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