sing
/ˈsɪŋ/verb, noun
sing is spelled S-I-N-G: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 35 times per million words in written English, the 2,785th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “sing vs singe” about 30 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, sing means “To produce musical or harmonious sounds with one’s voice” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in sing?
| Letters | 4: S-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 35 times per million words; the 2,785th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is sing?
Sing appears 35 times per million words in written English, the 2,785th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce sing?
- /ˈsɪŋ/
- [ˈsɪŋ]
- /ˈsiŋ/
Sing has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-sing.ogg, En-us-sing.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with sing
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: Singh (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Also written: singe.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with sing?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as sing.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: sign.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of sing
- sings present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- singing participle, present
- sang past, singular, he/she/it, plural
- sung past, participle
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sing mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To produce musical or harmonious sounds with one’s voice.
"I really want to sing in the school choir," said Vera.
- 2
To perform a vocal part in a musical composition, regardless of technique.
- 3
To express audibly by means of a harmonious vocalization.
sing a lullaby
- 4
To soothe with singing.
to sing somebody to sleep
- 5
To produce a 'song', for the purposes of defending a breeding territory or to attract a mate.
- 6
To produce any type of melodious vocalisation.
- 7
To rejoice.
My heart was singing.
- 8
slangTo confess under interrogation.
noun
- 1
The act, or event, of singing songs.
I sometimes have a quick sing in the shower.
- 2
Any sound likened to human singing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sing in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | chanter , se mettre à table |
| German | singen |
| Portuguese | cantar |
| Spanish | cantar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does sing come from?
From Middle English singen, from Old English singan (“to sing”), from Proto-West Germanic *singwan, from Proto-Germanic *singwaną (“to sing”), from Proto-Indo-European *sengʷʰ- (“to recite, sing”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian sjunge (“to sing”), West Frisian sjonge (“to sing”), Dutch zingen (“to sing”), German Low German singen (“to sing”), German singen (“to sing”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål synge (“to sing”), Swedish sjunga (“to sing”), Norwegian Nynorsk, Faroese, and Icelandic syngja (“to sing”), Ancient Greek ὀμφή (omphḗ, “voice, oracle”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).