Which to use
“time” and “times” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #60
- “time” frequency rank
- #250
- “times” frequency rank
- 310
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | time | times |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The inevitable progression into the future with the passing of present and past events. | plural of time |
Where the eye mixes time and times
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. time (/taɪm/) and times (/taɪmz/) 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 extra letter(s) - “time” sits inside “times”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 310, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
time is recorded at frequency rank #60, classified as anoun, pronounced /taɪm/. times is at rank #250, tagged as anoun, pronounced /taɪmz/.
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 310, this pair ranks #529,603 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of time vs times
Shared letters: eimt. Private to "time": -. Private to "times": s.
"time" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "times" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC