Which to use
“Swims” is a name and “swings” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #28,748
- “Swims” frequency rank
- #11,983
- “swings” frequency rank
- 40731
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Swims | swings |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A surname. | third-person singular simple present indicative of swing |
Letter map: Swims vs swings
Shared letters muted; letters that set Swims and swings apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. Swims runs 5 letters (CCVCC) against swings's 6 (CCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Role in the sentence - Swims and swings
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Swims is aname and swingsaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40731, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Swims is recorded at frequency rank #28,748, classified as aname. swings is at rank #11,983, tagged as averb, pronounced /swɪŋz/.
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 40731, this pair ranks #264,896 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Swims vs swings
Shared letters: isw. Private to "Swims": m. Private to "swings": gn.
"Swims" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "swings" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Swims" and "swings" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "Swims" or "swings" show up more?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "Swims" and "swings".
- Full dictionary entry for "Swims" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "swings" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #264,896 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Swims" and "swings" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "SIDS vs Swims". 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 #264,896 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.