Which to use
“who're” and “who've” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,747
- “who're” frequency rank
- #11,326
- “who've” frequency rank
- 46073
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | who're | who've |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Who are. | Contraction of who + have. |
Where the eye mixes who're and who've
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. who're and who've follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between who're and who've
A purely visual mix-up. who're ([hʊɚ]) and who've (/huːv/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - r in “who're” becomes v in “who've”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46073, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
who're is recorded at frequency rank #34,747, classified as acontraction, pronounced [hʊɚ]. who've is at rank #11,326, tagged as acontraction, pronounced /huːv/.
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 46073, this pair ranks #215,245 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of who're vs who've
Shared letters: ehow. Private to "who're": r. Private to "who've": v.
"who're" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "who've" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "who're" and "who've" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "who're" or "who've" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "who're" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "who've" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #215,245 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "who're" and "who've" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "who're vs whorl". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #215,245 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.