qualitiesvsquantitiesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,509
“qualities” frequency rank
#8,846
“quantities” frequency rank
15355
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature qualities quantities
Definition plural of quality plural of quantity

Where the eye mixes qualities and quantities

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

9 ch
qualities
10 ch
quantities

Visual trap between qualities and quantities

A purely visual mix-up. qualities (/ˈkwɑləˌtiz/) and quantities (/ˈkwɑntɪtiz/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15355, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

qualities is recorded at frequency rank #6,509, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkwɑləˌtiz/. quantities is at rank #8,846, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkwɑntɪtiz/.

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 15355, this pair ranks #464,450 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of qualities vs quantities

Shared letters: aeiqstu. Private to "qualities": l. Private to "quantities": n.

"qualities" · 9 letters · shape CVVCVCVVC  ·  "quantities" · 10 letters · shape CVVCCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • qualitiesqaulities · qqualities · quailties · qualiites · qualiteis · qualitiess · qualitise · qualitties
  • quantitiesqauntities · qquantities · quanitties · quanntities · quantiites · quantiteis · quantitiess · quantitise

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "qualities" for "quantities" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈkwɑləˌtiz/ versus /ˈkwɑntɪtiz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "qualities" vs "quantities" - which ranks higher?
"qualities" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,509 in our English list, against #8,846 for "quantities". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "qualities" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "quantities" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #464,450 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "qualities" and "quantities" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "quantified vs quantities". 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 #464,450 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list