Which to use
“who's” is a contraction and “whoo” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,512
- “who's” frequency rank
- #37,768
- “whoo” frequency rank
- 39280
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | who's | whoo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Who is. | An expression of delight and excitement. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set who's and whoo 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: who's is /huːz/ while whoo is /wuː/. 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 (contraction vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39280, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
who's is recorded at frequency rank #1,512, classified as acontraction, pronounced /huːz/. whoo is at rank #37,768, tagged as anintj, pronounced /wuː/.
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 39280, this pair ranks #278,109 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of who's vs whoo
Shared letters: how. Private to "who's": s. Private to "whoo": -.
"who's" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "whoo" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- whoo ← hwoo · whhoo · woho · wwhoo
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "who's" and "whoo" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "who's" or "whoo"?
Remembering who's vs whoo
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a contraction, it's “who's”; for an intj, it's “whoo”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “who's” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable