JohnsvsjosWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Johns is a name, jos is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Johns” is a name and “jos” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,379
“Johns” frequency rank
#28,219
“jos” frequency rank
66598
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Johns jos
Definition Nom de famille. Abréviation de jo les.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
Johns
3 ch
jos

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Johns is aname and josapronoun. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66598, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Johns is recorded at frequency rank #38,379, classified as aname. jos is at rank #28,219, tagged as apron.

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 66598, this pair ranks #67,116 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Johns vs jos

Shared letters: jos. Private to "Johns": hn. Private to "jos": -.

"Johns" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "jos" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Johnsjhons · jjohns · johhns · johnns · johnss · johsn · jonhs · ojhns

Frequency comparison

Johns#38,379
jos#28,219

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Johns" and "jos" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Johns" is a name and "jos" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Johns" or "jos"?
"jos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,219 in our French list, against #38,379 for "Johns". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Johns vs jos

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “Johns”; for a pronoun, it's “jos”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Johns” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list