Which to use
“natively” is an adverb and “natives” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,954
- “natively” frequency rank
- #10,894
- “natives” frequency rank
- 55848
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | natively | natives |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | In the manner of a native, especially a native speaker. | plural of native |
Where the eye mixes natively and natives
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: natively is /ˈneɪtɪvli/ while natives is /ˈneɪtɪvz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55848, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
natively is recorded at frequency rank #44,954, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈneɪtɪvli/. natives is at rank #10,894, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈneɪtɪvz/.
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 55848, this pair ranks #130,520 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of natively vs natives
Shared letters: aeintv. Private to "natively": ly. Private to "natives": s.
"natively" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV · "natives" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC