Which to use
“voluntarily” is an adverb and “voluntary” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,969
- “voluntarily” frequency rank
- #7,083
- “voluntary” frequency rank
- 18052
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | voluntarily | voluntary |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | In a voluntary manner. | Done, given, or acting of one's own free will. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set voluntarily and voluntary apart are highlighted. They share 9 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: voluntarily is /ˌvɑlənˈtɛɹɪli/ while voluntary is /ˈvɒl.ən.tɹi/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18052, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
voluntarily is recorded at frequency rank #10,969, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˌvɑlənˈtɛɹɪli/. voluntary is at rank #7,083, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈvɒl.ən.tɹi/.
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 18052, this pair ranks #447,432 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of voluntarily vs voluntary
Shared letters: alnortuvy. Private to "voluntarily": i. Private to "voluntary": -.
"voluntarily" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVCV · "voluntary" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- voluntarily ← ovluntarily · vlountarily · volluntarily · volnutarily · volunatrily · volunntarily · voluntairly · voluntarilly
- voluntary ← ovluntary · vlountary · volluntary · volnutary · volunatry · volunntary · voluntarry · voluntaryy
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "voluntarily" and "voluntary" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "voluntarily" or "voluntary"?
Remembering voluntarily vs voluntary
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “voluntarily”; for an adjective, it's “voluntary”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “voluntarily” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable