Which to use
“yan” is a num and “yes” is a particle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,458
- “yan” frequency rank
- #301
- “yes” frequency rank
- 14759
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | yan | yes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | One. | Used to show agreement or acceptance. |
Where the eye mixes yan and yes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: yan is /jæn/ while yes is /jɛs/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs particle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14759, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
yan is recorded at frequency rank #14,458, classified as anum, pronounced /jæn/. yes is at rank #301, tagged as aparticle, pronounced /jɛs/.
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 14759, this pair ranks #468,110 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of yan vs yes
Shared letters: y. Private to "yan": an. Private to "yes": es.
"yan" · 3 letters · shape VVC · "yes" · 3 letters · shape VVC