Which to use
“sawing” is a noun and “sowing” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,148
- “sawing” frequency rank
- #29,099
- “sowing” frequency rank
- 67247
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sawing | sowing |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The act by which something is sawn. | present participle and gerund of sow |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sawing and sowing apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: sawing is anoun and sowingaverb. On the page they differ by a single letter - a in “sawing” becomes o in “sowing”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67247, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sawing is recorded at frequency rank #38,148, classified as anoun. sowing is at rank #29,099, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈsəʊɪŋ/.
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 67247, this pair ranks #64,237 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of sawing vs sowing
Shared letters: ginsw. Private to "sawing": a. Private to "sowing": o.
"sawing" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "sowing" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sawing" and "sowing" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "sawing" or "sowing"?
Remembering sawing vs sowing
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “sawing”; for a verb, it's “sowing”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sawing” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable