goesvsgrossWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: goes is a verb, gross is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“goes” is a verb and “gross” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#34,107
“goes” frequency rank
#22,579
“gross” frequency rank
56686
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature goes gross
Definition Troisième personne du singulier du présent indicatif de go. Variante orthographique de groß.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set goes and gross apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
goes
5 ch
gross

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: goes is \ˈɡoʊz\ while gross is \ɡʀoːs\. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56686, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

goes is recorded at frequency rank #34,107, classified as averb, pronounced \ˈɡoʊz\. gross is at rank #22,579, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɡʀoːs\.

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 56686, this pair ranks #119,538 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of goes vs gross

Shared letters: gos. Private to "goes": e. Private to "gross": r.

"goes" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "gross" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • goesgeos · ggoes · goess · oges
  • grossggross · gorss · grross · grsos · rgoss

Frequency comparison

goes#34,107
gross#22,579

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "goes" and "gross" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "goes" is a verb and "gross" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "goes" or "gross"?
"gross" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,579 in our French list, against #34,107 for "goes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering goes vs gross

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “goes”; for an adjective, it's “gross”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “goes” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list