Which to use
“whatever” is a noun and “whatever's” is a contraction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #759
- “whatever” frequency rank
- #40,516
- “whatever's” frequency rank
- 41275
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | whatever | whatever's |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A thing or person whose actual name is unknown or forgotten. | Contraction of whatever + is. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set whatever and whatever's apart are highlighted. They share 8 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: whatever is /ʍɒtˈɛv.ə/ while whatever's is /ʍɒtˈɛ.vəz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “whatever” sits inside “whatever's”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs contraction), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41275, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
whatever is recorded at frequency rank #759, classified as anoun, pronounced /ʍɒtˈɛv.ə/. whatever's is at rank #40,516, tagged as acontraction, pronounced /ʍɒtˈɛ.vəz/.
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 41275, this pair ranks #259,963 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of whatever vs whatever's
Shared letters: aehrtvw. Private to "whatever": -. Private to "whatever's": s.
"whatever" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC · "whatever's" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- whatever ← hwatever · wahtever · whaetver · whateevr · whateverr · whatevre · whatevver · whattever
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "whatever" and "whatever's" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "whatever" or "whatever's"?
Remembering whatever vs whatever's
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “whatever”; for a contraction, it's “whatever's”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “whatever” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable