Which to use
“not” is an adverb and “notes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23
- “not” frequency rank
- #1,531
- “notes” frequency rank
- 1554
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | not | notes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Negates the meaning of the modified verb. | plural of note |
Where the eye mixes not and notes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: not vs notes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: not is /nɒt/ while notes is /noʊts/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “not” sits inside “notes”, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1554, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
not is recorded at frequency rank #23, classified as anadv, pronounced /nɒt/. notes is at rank #1,531, tagged as anoun, pronounced /noʊts/.
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 1554, this pair ranks #527,192 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of not vs notes
Shared letters: not. Private to "not": -. Private to "notes": es.
"not" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "notes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- notes ← nnotes · noets · notess · notse · nottes · ntoes · ontes
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "not" for "notes" ever safe?
Which is more common, "not" or "notes"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "not" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "notes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #527,192 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "not" and "notes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "not vs NPL". 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 #527,192 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.