Which to use
“know” is a noun and “known” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,311
- “know” frequency rank
- #36,514
- “known” frequency rank
- 42825
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | know | known |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | conhecimento | conhecido, famoso |
Where the eye mixes know and known
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses know with known
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: know is /noʊ/ while known is /nɔʊn/ , SAMPA: /noUn/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “know” sits inside “known”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42825, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
know is recorded at frequency rank #6,311, classified as anoun, pronounced /noʊ/. known is at rank #36,514, tagged as anadj, pronounced /nɔʊn/ , SAMPA: /noUn/.
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 42825, this pair ranks #22,887 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of know vs known
Shared letters: know. Private to "know": -. Private to "known": -.
"know" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "known" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "know" and "known" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "know" or "known" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "know" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "known" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #22,887 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "know" and "known" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "know vs ko". 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 #22,887 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.