Which to use
“supplier” is a noun and “supplies” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,106
- “supplier” frequency rank
- #3,141
- “supplies” frequency rank
- 12247
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | supplier | supplies |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | One who supplies; a provider. | third-person singular simple present indicative of supply |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set supplier and supplies apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: supplier is /səˈplaɪə/ while supplies is /səˈplaɪz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - r in “supplier” becomes s in “supplies”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12247, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
supplier is recorded at frequency rank #9,106, classified as anoun, pronounced /səˈplaɪə/. supplies is at rank #3,141, tagged as averb, pronounced /səˈplaɪz/.
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 12247, this pair ranks #482,652 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of supplier vs supplies
Shared letters: eilpsu. Private to "supplier": r. Private to "supplies": -.
"supplier" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC · "supplies" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC