Which to use
“was” is a pronoun and “what” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,098
- “was” frequency rank
- #6,911
- “what” frequency rank
- 16009
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | was | what |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Quelque chose. | Quoi ? Comment ? |
Where the eye mixes was and what
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between was and what
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: was is \vas\ while what is \wat\. 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 (pronoun vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16009, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
was is recorded at frequency rank #9,098, classified as apron, pronounced \vas\. what is at rank #6,911, tagged as anintj, pronounced \wat\.
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 16009, this pair ranks #389,810 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of was vs what
Shared letters: aw. Private to "was": s. Private to "what": ht.
"was" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "what" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- what ← hwat · waht · whatt · whhat · whta · wwhat
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "was" and "what" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "was" or "what"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "was" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "what" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #389,810 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "was" and "what" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "was vs wrap". 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 #389,810 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.