Which to use
“went” and “were” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #300
- “went” frequency rank
- #52
- “were” frequency rank
- 352
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | went | were |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past of go | second-person singular simple past indicative of be |
Where the eye mixes went and were
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. went (/wɛnt/) and were (/wə(ɹ)/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 352, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
went is recorded at frequency rank #300, classified as averb, pronounced /wɛnt/. were is at rank #52, tagged as averb, pronounced /wə(ɹ)/.
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 352, this pair ranks #529,556 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of went vs were
Shared letters: ew. Private to "went": nt. Private to "were": r.
"went" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "were" · 4 letters · shape CVCV