Which to use
“years” is a noun and “yes” is a particle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #118
- “years” frequency rank
- #301
- “yes” frequency rank
- 419
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | years | yes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of year. | Used to show agreement or acceptance. |
Where the eye mixes years and yes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: years vs yes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: years is /jɪəz/ while yes is /jɛs/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs particle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 419, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
years is recorded at frequency rank #118, classified as anoun, pronounced /jɪəz/. 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 419, this pair ranks #529,453 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of years vs yes
Shared letters: esy. Private to "years": ar. Private to "yes": -.
"years" · 5 letters · shape VVVCC · "yes" · 3 letters · shape VVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- years ← eyars · yaers · yearrs · yearss · yeasr · yeras · yyears
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "years" for "yes" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "years" or "yes" 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 "years" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "yes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #529,453 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "years" and "yes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Yau vs yes". 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 #529,453 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.