Which to use
“gh” is a typographic variant and “go” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46,786
- “gh” frequency rank
- #2,718
- “go” frequency rank
- 49504
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gh | go |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Orthographe par contrainte typographique par système h de ĝ. | Jeu de stratégie d’origine chinoise et qui se joue à deux joueurs. |
Where the eye mixes gh and go
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses gh with go
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gh is \d͡ʒo\ while go is \ɡo\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - h in “gh” becomes o in “go”, and the parts of speech differ too (typographic variant vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49504, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gh is recorded at frequency rank #46,786, classified as atypographic variant, pronounced \d͡ʒo\. go is at rank #2,718, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡo\.
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 49504, this pair ranks #170,086 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gh vs go
Shared letters: g. Private to "gh": h. Private to "go": o.
"gh" · 2 letters · shape CC · "go" · 2 letters · shape CV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "gh" and "go" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "gh" or "go"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "gh" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "go" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #170,086 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gh" and "go" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gh vs gx". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #170,086 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.