yes
/jɛs/
"yes" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“yes” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #301 in English word frequency and used as a particle.
- #301
- frequency rank, English
- 3
- letters
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Used to show agreement or acceptance.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | yes |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Particle |
| IPA | /jɛs/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #301 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “yes” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for yes is 3 letters long, classified as a particle, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /jɛs/. Corpus data places it at rank #301 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No misspelling variants are generated for yes in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "yo", "yu", "yr", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English yes, from Old English ġīese (“by all means, of course, yes”), derived from the same root as yea. Compare Faroese júsá (“yes, indeed, certainly”). The correct English form is yes, spelled Y-E-S.
Definition
- 1Used to show agreement or acceptance.
- 2Used to indicate disagreement or dissent in reply to a negative statement.
- 3Answer to a question presuming one answer when all answers are correct.
Etymology
From Middle English yes, from Old English ġīese (“by all means, of course, yes”), derived from the same root as yea. Compare Faroese júsá (“yes, indeed, certainly”).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “yes”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is Y-E-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /jɛs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “yo” - see the side-by-side comparison. yes vs yo
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.