Which to use
“what's” is a contraction and “whats” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #645
- “what's” frequency rank
- #8,625
- “whats” frequency rank
- 9270
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | what's | whats |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | What is. | plural of what; used as a stand-in to collectively pluralize arbitrary instances of things. Often used along with whys, hows, etc. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set what's and whats apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: what's is acontraction and whatsanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9270, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
what's is recorded at frequency rank #645, classified as acontraction, pronounced /wɒts/. whats is at rank #8,625, tagged as anoun.
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 9270, this pair ranks #498,252 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of what's vs whats
Shared letters: ahstw. Private to "what's": -. Private to "whats": -.
"what's" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "whats" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- whats ← hwats · wahts · whast · whatss · whatts · whhats · whtas · wwhats
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "what's" and "whats" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "what's" or "whats"?
Remembering what's vs whats
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a contraction, it's “what's”; for a noun, it's “whats”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “what's” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable