Which to use
“we're” is a contraction and “wear” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #394
- “we're” frequency rank
- #1,289
- “wear” frequency rank
- 1683
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | we're | wear |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Contraction of we + are. | To have on: |
Where the eye mixes we're and wear
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: we're is /wɪə/ while wear is /wɛə/. 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 (contraction vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1683, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
we're is recorded at frequency rank #394, classified as acontraction, pronounced /wɪə/. wear is at rank #1,289, tagged as averb, pronounced /wɛə/.
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 1683, this pair ranks #526,906 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of we're vs wear
Shared letters: erw. Private to "we're": -. Private to "wear": a.
"we're" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "wear" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- wear ← ewar · waer · wearr · wera · wwear