we'vevswho'veWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#983
“we've” frequency rank
#11,326
“who've” frequency rank
12309
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature we've who've
Definition Contraction of we + have. Contraction of who + have.

Where the eye mixes we've and who've

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

5 ch
we've
6 ch
who've

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. we've (/wiːv/) and who've (/huːv/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12309, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

we've is recorded at frequency rank #983, classified as acontraction, pronounced /wiːv/. who've is at rank #11,326, tagged as acontraction, pronounced /huːv/.

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 12309, this pair ranks #482,287 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of we've vs who've

Shared letters: evw. Private to "we've": -. Private to "who've": ho.

"we've" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "who've" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "we've" and "who've" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/wiːv/ versus /huːv/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "we've" or "who've"?
"we've" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #983 in our English list, against #11,326 for "who've". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list