Which to use
“y” is a character and “yes” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6
- “y” frequency rank
- #14,741
- “yes” frequency rank
- 14747
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | y | yes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Vigesimosexta letra del alfabeto español y vigésima consonante. Su nombre es ye o i griega. | Sí. |
Where the eye mixes y 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: y is [ˈi] while yes is /jɛs/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “y” sits inside “yes”, and the parts of speech differ too (character vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14747, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
y is recorded at frequency rank #6, classified as acharacter, pronounced [ˈi]. yes is at rank #14,741, tagged as anadv, 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 14747, this pair ranks #282,902 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of y vs yes
Shared letters: y. Private to "y": -. Private to "yes": es.
"y" · 1 letters · shape V · "yes" · 3 letters · shape VVC