quackvsquacksWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“quack” and “quacks” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#26,927
“quack” frequency rank
#47,280
“quacks” frequency rank
74207
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quack quacks
Definition The sound made by a duck. plural of quack

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set quack and quacks apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
quack
6 ch
quacks

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. quack (/kwæk/) and quacks (/kwæks/) 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) - “quack” sits inside “quacks”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74207, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quack is recorded at frequency rank #26,927, classified as anoun, pronounced /kwæk/. quacks is at rank #47,280, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kwæks/.

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 74207, this pair ranks #37,063 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of quack vs quacks

Shared letters: ackqu. Private to "quack": -. Private to "quacks": s.

"quack" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "quacks" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quackqauck · qquack · quacck · quackk · quakc · qucak · uqack
  • quacksqaucks · qquacks · quaccks · quackks · quackss · quacsk · quakcs · qucaks

Frequency comparison

quack#26,927
quacks#47,280

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "quack" and "quacks" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/kwæk/ versus /kwæks/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "quack" or "quacks"?
"quack" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,927 in our English list, against #47,280 for "quacks". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering quack vs quacks

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “quack” 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