Which to use
“what” is a determiner and “Wuhan” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46
- “what” frequency rank
- #38,250
- “Wuhan” frequency rank
- 38296
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | what | Wuhan |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Which, especially which of an open-ended set of possibilities. | A subprovincial city, the provincial capital of Hubei, China. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set what and Wuhan apart are highlighted. They share 3 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 Wuhan is /ˈwuːˈhɑːn/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (determiner vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38296, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
what is recorded at frequency rank #46, classified as adet, pronounced /wɒt/. Wuhan is at rank #38,250, tagged as aname, pronounced /ˈwuːˈhɑːn/.
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 38296, this pair ranks #287,156 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of what vs Wuhan
Shared letters: ahw. Private to "what": t. Private to "Wuhan": nu.
"what" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "Wuhan" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "what" and "Wuhan" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "what" or "Wuhan"?
Remembering what vs Wuhan
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a determiner, it's “what”; for a name, it's “Wuhan”.
- 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