Which to use
“varies” is a verb and “various” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,868
- “varies” frequency rank
- #799
- “various” frequency rank
- 8667
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | varies | various |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of vary | More than one (of an indeterminate set of things). |
Where the eye mixes varies and various
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. varies runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against various's 7 (CVCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between varies and various
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: varies is /ˈvæɹiːz/ while various is /ˈvɛəɹi.əs/. 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 determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8667, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
varies is recorded at frequency rank #7,868, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈvæɹiːz/. various is at rank #799, tagged as adet, pronounced /ˈvɛəɹi.əs/.
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 8667, this pair ranks #501,326 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of varies vs various
Shared letters: airsv. Private to "varies": e. Private to "various": ou.
"varies" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "various" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "varies" for "various" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "varies" or "various" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "varies" and "various" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "varies" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "various" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #501,326 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "varies" and "various" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Valdes vs varies". 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 #501,326 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.