Which to use
“year” is a noun and “yes” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,634
- “year” frequency rank
- #14,741
- “yes” frequency rank
- 38375
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | year | yes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Año. | Sí. |
Where the eye mixes year and yes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses year with yes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: year is /jɪə/ while yes is /jɛs/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38375, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
year is recorded at frequency rank #23,634, classified as anoun, pronounced /jɪə/. 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 38375, this pair ranks #170,351 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of year vs yes
Shared letters: ey. Private to "year": ar. Private to "yes": s.
"year" · 4 letters · shape VVVC · "yes" · 3 letters · shape VVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- year ← eyar · yearr · yera · yyear
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "year" for "yes" ever safe?
Frequency check: "year" vs "yes" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "year" and "yes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "year" 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 #170,351 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "year" and "yes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "year vs yet". 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 #170,351 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.