Which to use
“what” is a determiner and “wort” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46
- “what” frequency rank
- #33,912
- “wort” frequency rank
- 33958
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | what | wort |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Which, especially which of an open-ended set of possibilities. | Now chiefly as the second element in the names of plants: a plant used for food or medicine. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set what and wort apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: what is /wɒt/ while wort is /wɜːt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (determiner vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33958, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
what is recorded at frequency rank #46, classified as adet, pronounced /wɒt/. wort is at rank #33,912, tagged as anoun, pronounced /wɜːt/.
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 33958, this pair ranks #324,912 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of what vs wort
Shared letters: tw. Private to "what": ah. Private to "wort": or.
"what" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "wort" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "what" and "wort" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "what" or "wort"?
Remembering what vs wort
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a determiner, it's “what”; for a noun, it's “wort”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “what” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable