Which to use
“on” is an adjective and “our” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13
- “on” frequency rank
- #76
- “our” frequency rank
- 89
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | on | our |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | In the state of being active, functioning or operating. | Belonging to us, excluding the person(s) being addressed (exclusive our). |
Where the eye mixes on and our
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between on and our
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: on is /ɒn/ while our is /ˈaʊə(ɹ)/. 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 (adjective vs determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 89, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
on is recorded at frequency rank #13, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɒn/. our is at rank #76, tagged as adet, pronounced /ˈaʊə(ɹ)/.
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 89, this pair ranks #529,903 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of on vs our
Shared letters: o. Private to "on": n. Private to "our": ru.
"on" · 2 letters · shape VC · "our" · 3 letters · shape VVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "on" and "our" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "on" or "our"?
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 "on" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "our" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #529,903 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "on" and "our" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "omi vs our". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #529,903 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.