we'llvswellsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: we'll is a contraction, wells is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“we'll” is a contraction and “wells” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,379
“we'll” frequency rank
#4,727
“wells” frequency rank
6106
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature we'll wells
Definition we will plural of well

Where the eye mixes we'll and wells

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
we'll
5 ch
wells

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: we'll is /wiːl/ while wells is /wɛlz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (contraction vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6106, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

we'll is recorded at frequency rank #1,379, classified as acontraction, pronounced /wiːl/. wells is at rank #4,727, tagged as anoun, pronounced /wɛlz/.

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 6106, this pair ranks #512,727 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of we'll vs wells

Shared letters: elw. Private to "we'll": -. Private to "wells": s.

"we'll" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "wells" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wellsewlls · wellss · wels · welsl · wlels · wwells

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "we'll" and "wells" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "we'll" is a contraction and "wells" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "we'll" or "wells"?
"we'll" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,379 in our English list, against #4,727 for "wells". 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