Which to use
“when” is an adverb and “when's” is a contraction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48
- “when” frequency rank
- #22,550
- “when's” frequency rank
- 22598
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | when | when's |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | At what time? At which time? Upon which occasion or circumstance? Used to introduce direct or indirect questions about time. | Contraction of when + is. |
Where the eye mixes when and when's
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. when runs 4 letters (CCVC) against when's's 5 (CCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between when and when's
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: when is /ˈwɛn/ while when's is /wɛnz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “when” sits inside “when's”, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs contraction), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22598, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
when is recorded at frequency rank #48, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈwɛn/. when's is at rank #22,550, tagged as acontraction, pronounced /wɛnz/.
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 22598, this pair ranks #415,408 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of when vs when's
Shared letters: ehnw. Private to "when": -. Private to "when's": s.
"when" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "when's" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- when ← hwen · wehn · whenn · whhen · whne · wwhen
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "when" and "when's" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "when" vs "when's" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "when" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "when's" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #415,408 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "when" and "when's" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "when's vs wheres". 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 #415,408 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.