growvsgrowthWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: grow is a verb, growth is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“grow” is a verb and “growth” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#48,564
“grow” frequency rank
#36,423
“growth” frequency rank
84987
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature grow growth
Definition et Pousser. Croissance.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set grow and growth apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
grow
6 ch
growth

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: grow is \ɡɹəʊ\ while growth is \ɡɹəʊθ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “grow” sits inside “growth”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84987, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

grow is recorded at frequency rank #48,564, classified as averb, pronounced \ɡɹəʊ\. growth is at rank #36,423, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡɹəʊθ\.

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 84987, this pair ranks #12,065 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of grow vs growth

Shared letters: gorw. Private to "grow": -. Private to "growth": ht.

"grow" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "growth" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • growggrow · gorw · groww · grrow · grwo · rgow
  • growthggrowth · gorwth · grotwh · growht · growthh · growtth · growwth · grrowth

Frequency comparison

grow#48,564
growth#36,423

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "grow" and "growth" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "grow" is a verb and "growth" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "grow" or "growth"?
"growth" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,423 in our French list, against #48,564 for "grow". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering grow vs growth

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “grow”; for a noun, it's “growth”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “grow” 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