yorevsyrsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: yore is a noun, yrs is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“yore” is a noun and “yrs” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#45,179
“yore” frequency rank
#14,675
“yrs” frequency rank
59854
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature yore yrs
Definition A time long past. Abbreviation of yours (when signing a letter).

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set yore and yrs apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
yore
3 ch
yrs

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: yore is anoun and yrsapronoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59854, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

yore is recorded at frequency rank #45,179, classified as anoun, pronounced /jɔː/. yrs is at rank #14,675, tagged as apron.

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 59854, this pair ranks #103,702 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of yore vs yrs

Shared letters: ry. Private to "yore": eo. Private to "yrs": s.

"yore" · 4 letters · shape VVCV  ·  "yrs" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • yoreoyre · yoer · yorre · yroe · yyore

Frequency comparison

yore#45,179
yrs#14,675

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "yore" and "yrs" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "yore" is a noun and "yrs" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "yore" or "yrs"?
"yrs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,675 in our English list, against #45,179 for "yore". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering yore vs yrs

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “yore”; for a pronoun, it's “yrs”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “yore” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list