timesvstypesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“times” and “types” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#250
“times” frequency rank
#1,509
“types” frequency rank
1759
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature times types
Definition plural of time plural of type

Where the eye mixes times and types

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
times
5 ch
types

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. times (/taɪmz/) and types (/taɪps/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1759, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

times is recorded at frequency rank #250, classified as anoun, pronounced /taɪmz/. types is at rank #1,509, tagged as anoun, pronounced /taɪps/.

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 1759, this pair ranks #526,720 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of times vs types

Shared letters: est. Private to "times": im. Private to "types": py.

"times" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "types" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • timesitmes · tiems · timess · timmes · timse · tmies · ttimes
  • typestpyes · ttypes · tyeps · typess · typpes · typse · tyypes · ytpes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "times" and "types" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/taɪmz/ versus /taɪps/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "times" or "types"?
"times" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #250 in our English list, against #1,509 for "types". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list