Which to use
“sink” is a verb and “son” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,081
- “sink” frequency rank
- #534
- “son” frequency rank
- 5615
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sink | son |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To move or be moved into something. | One's male offspring. |
Where the eye mixes sink and son
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between sink and son
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sink is /ˈsɪŋk/ while son is /sʌn/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5615, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sink is recorded at frequency rank #5,081, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈsɪŋk/. son is at rank #534, tagged as anoun, pronounced /sʌn/.
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 5615, this pair ranks #514,632 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sink vs son
Shared letters: ns. Private to "sink": ik. Private to "son": o.
"sink" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "son" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- sink ← isnk · sinkk · sinnk · snik · ssink
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sink" and "son" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "sink" or "son"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "sink" and "son" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sink" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "son" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #514,632 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sink" and "son" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sif vs sink". 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 #514,632 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.