Which to use
“went” and “win” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #300
- “went” frequency rank
- #408
- “win” frequency rank
- 708
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | went | win |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past of go | To conquer, defeat. |
Where the eye mixes went and win
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses went with win
A purely visual mix-up. went (/wɛnt/) and win (/wɪn/) 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 708, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
went is recorded at frequency rank #300, classified as averb, pronounced /wɛnt/. win is at rank #408, tagged as averb, pronounced /wɪn/.
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 708, this pair ranks #528,938 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of went vs win
Shared letters: nw. Private to "went": et. Private to "win": i.
"went" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "win" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- went ← ewnt · wennt · wentt · wetn · wnet · wwent
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "went" for "win" ever safe?
Frequency check: "went" vs "win" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "went" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "win" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #528,938 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "went" and "win" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "win vs WYO". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #528,938 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.