Is this even a word?

Question

Your should write a program or function that takes a 4-character string as input and outputs a value indicating if the string is an English word or not. You are allowed to make mistakes in 15% of the provided testcases.

Input details:

Input is a 4-character string containing only the lowercase English letters (a-z).

Output details:

If the input is an English word you should output a boolean true or an integer 1.

If the input isn't an English word you should output a boolean false or an integer 0.

Word lists

list of 4-letter English words (2236 words)

list of 4-letter non-word strings (2236 strings)

The non-word list contains uniformly randomly generated letter sequences with the real words removed from them.

Testing

Your program or function should make no more than 15% mistakes on the given word lists together. That means you can give wrong output for 670 of the 4472 provided inputs.

You should post the testing program or function too so others could check your answer. The length of your testing program doesn't count into your submissions score.

Standard loopholes are disallowed.

Your program shouldn't use any external sources e.g. accessing web or reading from file.

This is code-golf so the shortest program or function wins.

Answer 1

Ruby, 29 bytes

->s{!s[/[^aeiou]{3}|[jqxz]/]}

Hopefully I've got this right - it's my first time programming in Ruby. I actually did all my testing in Python, but import re was far too long for me.

This is an anonymous function which takes in a string and outputs true/false accordingly. It uses a regex which looks for one of the following two things:

• Three consonants in a row
• Contains one of jqxz

If either of these are present, we classify the input as not a word.

The function matches 2030 words (incorrectly failing on 206) and fails on 1782 non-words (incorrectly matching 454), for a total of 660 misclassifications. Tested on ideone.

Thanks to @MartinBüttner for the Ruby help. Martin also points out that a full program takes the same number of bytes:

p !gets[/[^aeiou]{3}|[jqxz]/]

Also thanks to user20150203 for simplifying the regex.

---

Ruby, 1586 1488 1349 1288 1203 bytes

For a bonus, here's a function with a much longer regex:

->s{!s[/[^aeiouyhs]{3}|[^aeiouy]{4}|q[^u]|^x|^[bdf][^aeioulry]|^[cgkprtwy][mfdsbktjgxpc]|^a[aoz]|^e[hf]|^i[ea]|^o[ecy]|^u[^ltnspgr]|[bdgktyz][cgmpw]$|[fhpvx][^aieoflnrsty]$|eh$|i[iyh]|[wkybp]z|[dghz]t|[fjzsv]y.|h[ns].|ae.|y.?[yifj]|[ejo]..[iuw]|[inv]..[gpuvz]|[eu].[jqwx]|[vyz][^t][fhmpqy]|i[^ae][fjqrv]|[ospen].?j|[ceg][iuy][ghkoux]|[bcpx]f|[hnuy]w|[ghnw]b|[txz]n|[jk]r|.[fjuyz]u|[hnt]ia|lsy|.p.o|.l.l|.tas|zal|f.p|eeb|wei|.sc.|.pl|yat|hov|hab|aug|v.re|aba|ohu|ned|s.dd|uc$|nux|oo$|dgo|lix|wua|v.o|vo$|ryo|wue|dk|oic|yol|.tr|yrb|oba|ruh|c.ls|idd|chn|doy|ekh|tk|lke|asl|cir|eez|asc|uil|iou|m..p|awt|irp|zaa|td|swk|ors|phe|aro|yps|q.e|ati|ibt|e.mo|we.y|p.de|ley|eq|tui|e..g|sps|akh|dny|swr|iul|.t.t|.tao|rcy|.p.y|idi|j.o|.kl|oms|ogi|jat|.lis|mye|uza|rsi|.ala|ibo|ipi|yaa|eun|ruy|wog|mm$|oex|koi|uyn|.hid|osc|ofe|w.op|auc|uzy|yme|aab|slm|oza|.fi|bys|z.e|nse|faf|l.h|f.va|nay|hag|opo|lal|seck|z.b|kt|agl|epo|roch|ix.|pys|oez|h.zi|nan|jor|c.ey|dui|ry.d|.sn|sek|w.no|iaz|ieb|irb|tz.|ilz|oib|cd|bye|ded|f.b|if$|mig|kue|ki.w|yew|dab|kh.|grs|no.t|cs.|.n.m|iea|y.na|vev|eag|el[uz]|eo[dkr]|e[hlsu]e|e[dho]l|eov|e[adp]y|r[grt]u|yn[klo]|.[^ilv].v|s[bdgqrz]|m[dfghrz]|[vpcwx]{2}|^[hjlmnvz][^aeiouy]|^[drw]l|l[hnr]/]}

I wanted to show that regex can still beat compression, so this one classifies every given case correctly. The regex itself is a bit like exponential decay — the first bits match a lot of non-words, then every bit after matches fewer and fewer until I gave up and just concatenated the rest (about 200 or so) at the end. Some of the ones that were left looked surprisingly like real words (such as chia which is a word).

I threw the regex at my regex golf cleaner which I wrote for another challenge — it golfed about 300 bytes before I had to try shuffling things around manually. There's still a fair bit to be golfed though.

Answer 2

Groovy, 77 74

x={it==~/^(?!.+[jq]|[^aeiou][^aeiouhlr]|.[^aeiouy]{3}|.[x-z])|^s[cknptw]/}

I wrote the test program in Java, which you can find in this Gist on Github. Here is the output from my test program:

Good: 2135 1708
Bad: 101 528

(Failed 629 test cases)

P.S. I think this is going to end up a regex golf problem extremely soon...

If Sp3000's answer (the function) is to be converted to Groovy, it will end up with the same character count. As named function:

x={it!=~/[^aeiou]{3}|[jqxz]/}

or unnamed function:

{i->i!=~/[^aeiou]{3}|[jqxz]/}

Answer 3

Javascript, 1626 bytes:

I wanted to go for a solution which for each character has a clue of which one might come after. Not that short, but no regex and a fairly good result (words: 101 mistakes, non-words, 228 mistakes)

v=function(w){var g={a:{b:3,c:4,d:4,m:6,f:1,r:14,g:4,i:6,x:2,k:2,l:10,n:12,s:6,p:4,t:7,u:2,v:3,w:3,y:3,h:1,z:1},b:{b:3,a:19,e:19,y:3,l:6,o:17,u:12,i:9,s:9,r:6},e:{d:7,l:8,t:4,s:10,n:11,e:10,r:10,c:2,x:2,w:4,a:13,f:1,p:2,g:2,v:1,b:1,m:3,u:1,i:1,k:1,y:2},l:{e:16,y:5,a:16,b:1,f:2,l:12,m:2,o:14,p:1,s:2,u:8,d:4,i:10,k:3,t:5},o:{s:7,g:3,e:3,k:3,n:10,m:4,p:5,w:6,b:3,c:2,t:6,a:5,d:5,h:1,i:2,l:8,o:9,r:8,u:4,y:2,v:2,z:1,f:2,x:1},u:{t:8,e:5,m:7,s:11,a:2,n:13,r:15,d:6,c:4,f:1,g:5,l:9,y:1,z:1,b:5,j:1,x:1,p:2,k:1,i:2},c:{e:9,h:12,i:2,r:6,t:3,o:20,k:15,a:16,l:6,u:8,y:1},h:{e:21,r:2,a:22,i:15,o:20,u:15,n:3,l:1,y:1},i:{d:8,m:5,n:18,r:7,a:2,s:8,v:2,l:13,t:10,b:1,e:6,k:2,p:5,g:3,c:6,o:2,f:2,z:1},m:{e:19,s:8,a:21,i:12,m:1,o:15,y:2,b:4,p:8,n:1,u:8},n:{e:18,u:3,a:9,d:10,n:4,o:7,s:11,t:11,g:10,k:6,i:5,y:2,c:1},r:{e:18,s:4,y:4,a:16,c:1,g:1,i:12,m:3,p:2,t:4,b:1,d:4,k:4,n:5,r:2,o:11,l:2,u:6,f:1},t:{a:14,s:17,e:18,i:9,o:15,h:10,t:3,y:2,c:1,z:1,u:5,r:5,w:2},d:{a:14,d:4,s:10,e:22,y:8,i:12,o:14,r:4,u:10,l:1},f:{a:16,f:6,e:12,y:1,i:14,l:13,o:16,r:7,u:7,t:7,n:1,s:1},g:{a:16,e:12,o:17,u:7,s:18,g:1,y:2,i:8,l:4,n:2,h:3,r:9,w:1},j:{a:25,i:7,e:14,o:25,u:29},k:{i:23,s:6,e:41,u:6,a:10,l:2,n:8,o:2,h:1,y:1},p:{s:12,e:20,a:19,y:2,i:13,t:2,u:10,l:5,o:13,r:4},s:{o:8,i:8,e:13,k:6,h:10,s:8,t:14,y:1,p:5,c:2,l:6,a:10,m:1,n:2,u:4,w:2},v:{a:18,e:47,i:22,o:8,y:6},y:{l:4,e:18,s:20,d:3,n:8,r:8,t:4,a:14,k:1,m:1,o:8,x:3,p:3,u:4,v:1},q:{u:100},w:{a:24,e:17,l:4,r:3,s:10,n:6,y:2,k:1,d:1,t:1,i:17,u:1,o:10,h:4},x:{e:35,i:18,l:6,o:6,a:6,t:12,y:18},z:{z:10,y:10,a:3,e:43,r:3,o:17,i:10,u:3}},p=1,x,y,i=0;for(;i<3;){x=w[i],y=w[++i];p*=g[x]&&g[x][y]||0}return p>60}

Here's a working implementation http://fiddle.jshell.net/jc73sjyn/

In short: the Object g holds the characters from a to z (as keys), and for each of them, there is a set of characters (also as keys) that each represent a character that may come after, along with its probability percentage. Where no object exists, there is no probability.

The 3 scores (4 letters -> 3 evaluations) are multiplied, and a word with a score of 60 and above is considered a real word.

Example: for the word 'cope' there are three lookups:

g[c][o] = 20

g[o][p] = 5

g[p][e] = 20

score = 20 * 5 * 20 = 2000, which is more than 60, so that one is valid.

(I'm quite new with javascript, so there might be ways to make it shorter that I don't know of.)

LATE EDIT:

Completely irrelevant by now, but I evaluated my way to a more correct g:

g={a:{b:7,c:4,d:4,m:6,f:2,r:14,g:4,i:6,x:2,k:2,l:10,n:12,s:6,p:4,t:7,u:2,v:3,w:12,y:3,h:1,z:1},b:{b:10,a:19,e:19,y:3,l:6,o:17,u:10,i:9,s:9,r:3},e:{d:7,l:8,t:4,s:10,n:11,e:10,r:10,c:2,x:2,w:4,a:13,f:1,p:2,g:2,v:20,b:3,m:3,u:1,i:1,k:1,y:2},l:{e:16,y:5,a:16,b:1,f:2,l:12,m:2,o:14,p:1,s:6,u:61,d:1,i:10,k:3,t:5},o:{s:7,g:3,e:3,k:3,n:20,m:4,p:5,w:6,b:3,c:2,t:6,a:5,d:5,h:10,i:2,l:8,o:3,r:8,u:4,y:2,v:2,z:1,f:20,x:1},u:{t:8,e:5,m:7,s:11,a:2,n:13,r:15,d:6,c:1,f:10,g:5,l:9,y:1,z:1,b:5,j:1,x:1,p:2,k:1,i:2},c:{e:9,h:20,i:2,r:6,t:20,o:15,k:15,a:15,l:6,u:8,y:1},h:{e:21,r:2,a:7,i:15,o:20,u:15,n:10,l:0,y:1},i:{d:8,m:5,n:18,r:7,a:5,s:8,v:2,l:13,t:20,b:1,e:21,k:2,p:5,g:20,c:4,o:2,f:2,z:1},m:{e:10,s:8,a:21,i:12,m:1,o:15,y:2,b:4,p:2,n:1,u:8},n:{e:18,u:3,a:9,d:3,n:4,o:20,s:2,t:11,g:10,k:6,i:5,y:2,c:1},r:{e:15,s:4,y:4,a:16,c:1,g:1,i:12,m:3,p:2,t:4,b:1,d:4,k:4,n:5,r:2,o:11,l:2,u:20,f:1},t:{a:14,s:15,e:18,i:2,o:15,h:10,t:3,y:2,c:1,z:1,u:5,r:5,w:2},d:{a:14,d:4,s:10,e:61,y:8,i:12,o:7,r:3,u:10,l:0},f:{a:5,f:6,e:12,y:1,i:3,l:13,o:16,r:7,u:20,t:4,n:1,s:1},g:{a:16,e:12,o:17,u:7,s:18,g:0,y:2,i:8,l:3,n:2,h:3,r:9,w:1},j:{a:8,i:7,e:14,o:5,u:29},k:{i:3,s:20,e:41,u:6,a:10,l:20,n:8,o:2,h:1,y:1},p:{s:12,e:20,a:5,y:2,i:13,t:4,u:10,l:3,o:13,r:4},s:{o:8,i:8,e:13,k:6,h:10,s:8,t:14,y:1,p:5,c:2,l:2,a:10,m:2,n:6,u:8,w:2},v:{a:10,e:20,i:22,o:6,y:6},y:{l:6,e:15,s:20,d:3,n:8,r:8,t:4,a:4,k:1,m:1,o:3,x:3,p:3,u:1,v:1},q:{u:100},w:{a:24,e:17,l:4,r:2,s:3,n:6,y:20,k:1,d:1,t:1,i:17,u:6,o:10,h:20},x:{e:35,i:6,l:3,o:6,a:6,t:3,y:7},z:{z:10,y:10,a:3,e:43,r:1,o:8,i:7,u:1}}

New results:

words: 53 mistakes, non-words: 159 mistakes

http://fiddle.jshell.net/jc73sjyn/2/

Answer 4

Python 2, 5254 bytes

This solution separates the good words into two halves. The lookup first checks the first 2 characters to find the right string, then looks for the second 2 characters in that string. Not very compact, but quick to write. This method matches every word without mistakes.

d='''gwenyn
guamlflllpmsnsrushsttsys
grabadamayegeweyidiminipisitowub
gyro
gearldlsmsnentrmts
gagsilinitlellltmengpepsrbryshspteulvewkze
goadalatbidsesffghldlfnengodofreryshtoutwn
gnataw
gladeeenowueut
giftldllltnannnonsrdrlrtstve
wrapenit
leadafakanaparekeresftgsnandnsntonsssttsvivywd
labsceckcydsdygsidinirkembmempnandnengospsrdrkrsshssstteuevawnwsyszy
loadafanbecickebftgogsiniskilambmenengokomonopotrdresesssttsudutvewews
tubebsckftgsnerfrn
trapayeeekimioipodotoyueuk
liarceckdsedeneseufeftkelalymambmempndnenkntonpssasespssstve
toadbyddesgoilldllmbneninsokolpsrernrysstourwnys
luckcyiskellmpndngrarerkshsttetz
thaianataweaemeneyinisorudugus
tickdedyedereslellltmemsnansntnypsretots
teamarasemenllndnsntrmssstxt
lylennnxonrare
dockdderesgegslellmenensomorperasetetsugvewnze
typepo
yokerkstur
dialcedoedemesetgskellmemsnengntonpsrertscshskve
yagilenkrdrnwn
deadafalanarbtckedemeperfyllmonsntnyskuswy
yearaslllp
dadadedshllelilymemnmpmsnanererkrnrtshtatevevywnysze
dyadedereskene
dualbsckctelesetkelllymbmpnengnknnpeskstty
drabagamawewipopugum
yves
yubakiri
quadayipitiz
iranaqesisksmaon
emilitma
elbakslamsse
endsidosvy
eire
zincon
ekedes
eels
eddyengeitna
egangsos
eachrlrnrprssestsyts
echo
ebbsen
eyederes
examecit
ezra
etch
ewenes
eveneril
wokelfmbngntodofolosrdrerkrmrnve
epic
espy
erasgoicieikisneosrs
rubebsbydedygsinlempngnsntshssstthts
ryan
readalamapardodsedefelidinlymynandnenontstub
raceckftgegsidilinkemompmsndngnkntpepsptreshsptetsulveysze
itchelem
roadamarbebsckdedslellmempofokomotpesasesssythtsutvewewsxy
rhea
ribscacechckcodedsftgagsllmemsndngnkotpepsscsesktetz
beadakamanaratauckdsefeneperesetgslallltlyndntnzrnrtsssttatsvy
weakanarbbbsdsedekephrldllntptrestts
babebychckdegsilitjakekuldlelilklllmndnengnknsrbrdrerkrnrrrsrtseshskssthtsudwlys
wacodeftgegshlilitkelkllltndnengntrdrermrnrprsrtryshspvexyys
blabedewipobocotowueumur
juandddedodygslympnengnknorareryst
boaratbscadedyergshrilisldllltmbndnengnnnyobokomonorosotrergrnsessthutwlwsydys
biasbsdedsenerkelelkllndngninsrdtets
wickdeerfegsldlellltlyndnengnknspereryseshspthtstt
whatenimipitizom
buckdddsffgslblkllmpmsnknsntoyrlrnrprrrtryshssstsyttyszz
joanbsdyelesgshninkeltsetsveys
jigsll
braeaganasatayedewieigimowyn
jeaneperffrksttsws
byrdte
wynn
ooze
onceeslytousyx
omanenit
olafavdyeggain
okay
oilsly
ohio
offs
oddsesinor
obeyoe
oaksrsthts
ivan
stabaganarayemepewiropowubudunyx
oxen
owedeneslsns
ovalenerid
ouchrsstts
otisto
oslo
oralesgyinly
opalecelentsus
vialcedaederesetewlenesatato
citety
chadaoaparatefenewicinipitopouum
coalataxbbcackcodedyedgshnilinkeldleltmbmeneokolonoppepspyrdrerkrnstsytsvewlwszy
cladamanapawayioipodogotubueuj
cabsdyfegeinkelflllmmempnensntpepsrdrerlrprrrsrtseshsksttsve
cedellltntrn
czar
cyst
zoneomosrn
crabagamayeeewibopowuduxuz
cubabebsedesffllltpsrbrdrerlrsrtsptets
vealdaergailinlannntrarbrnrystto
prayepeyimodoposow
pubsffghkelllpmampnsntnypapsrerrshsststt
smogugut
pylere
jabsckdeilkemsnersvawszz
paceckctdsgeidilinirlelllmlolsnengnsntparcrerkrrrsrtsosssttethtsulvewnwsys
peakalarasatckekelepergsltndnhnnnsntrkrusttetsws
phil
picackcteresgskelellmpnengnknsntonpesassthtstttyus
isisle
planayeaodotowoyugumus
hydemn
hubsckeseygeghgollmempmsngnknsntrdrlrtshskts
hickdeghkellltndntpsresstsve
hoaresffgsldlelmlymemoneodofokopotpepipsrnsesturwewlyt
haagasckhnilirlelfllltmsndngnsrdrerkrmrprtshtetsulvewkyszezy
headalaparatbeckedelirldlllmlpmpmsnsrarbrdrerorrrsssws
meadalanateketltmondnsnureshsstatetsws
macechdeidiliminkelelillltmanennnsnypsrcrerkrsrtrxryshsksssttethtsttulwryayoze
utah
moanatbsckdeenhrldlellnankntodonorotpsrernssstthvews
micaceckenkeldlelkllmindneninkntpsraressst
upon
twasiginos
podsemetgokelelklllompndngnyolorpepsrerkrtseshsttsurut
muchckddffgsirlellngseshsksttettzo
ulan
undoitixixto
imps
ugly
tabsckctftgsilkelelkllmengnkospepsrartskssteutxi
myrath
illsly
vailinlenensrysestts
acesheidmeneretats
abbabebyedeletlelyosut
adamdsen
agaredeeeresogue
afar
aidadedsmsnursry
swabamanapatayimum
akin
ajarax
amenesidmookosyl
alanarasbaeceeexfagalymamsoepssoumva
analdyewnaneonsitetitsus
aqua
apedesexse
asiaks
arabchcocseaesgoidmsmypats
auntrato
atomop
awayedlsry
averidisivonow
ayes
axedeleresisleon
icedeson
ibexidis
ideaemlelyol
igor
ifni
niceckghlenaneps
usederes
noahdedselllneokonrarmseteun
nagsgyilirmepsrysashtetourvyzi
nealaratckedffilllonrosssttsvawswtxt
voidltsstews
zulu
nudellmbnsts
franauayedeeeteyogomye
urdugeisnssa
fueljillmendnkrsrysesszz
ionstawa
facectdegsilinirkelkllmengnsrermsttetsunwnze
fearatedelesetllltndrnssud
zealrostus
fiateffegsjilelllmndnenknnnsrermshsksttsve
flagakamapatawaxeaedeeewexipitogopowueux
foalamciesgsgyilldlkndntodolotrdrerkrmrtssulurwl
kahnlinentrlrptetz
incachdodyksnsto
keelenepmpntptrnrrys
kickdselevllndngnkrksstets
spanatecedinitotunur
kochng
kneeewitobotowox
subschckdsedesezitlkmsngnknsrerf
klanux
skewidiminipisitye
siamanckdeftghgnkhlkllloltmsnengnknspsrerstetstuvaze
shameaedinipitodoeopotowunut
soakaparbsckdadsfaftilldlelomengnsnyonotrertulupurwnya
snagapipobowubug
kudohnrdrt
slabamapatavayedewidimipitobopotowugumur
scabanarotowud
sackfegagegsidilkelelkltlzmenandnengnkpsrarishteudulvewsys
sealamanarasatctedekemenepereslfllmindntptrfthtswsxy'''
w=raw_input()
s=[t[2:] for t in d.split() if t[:2]==w[:2]]
print s and w[2:] in [s[0][i:i+2] for i in range(0,len(s[0]),2)]

Answer 5

Word VBA, 25 Bytes

Anonymous VBE immediate window function that takes input as the current selection and outputs if it is a word as boolean to the VBE immediate window.

?CheckSpelling(Selection)

Tester Function

The below function was used to test the above function against the testcases. The function failed 9.07 percent of the cases (396 of the actual words and 10 of the fake words)

i=0:For Each w In Split(Selection,vbcr):i=i-CheckSpelling(w):Next:?i" were recognized as words

Answer 6

C# WPF, 110 139

Shorter

bool F(string s){var t=new TextBox();t.SpellCheck.IsEnabled=true;t.Text=s;return t.GetSpellingError(0)==null;}

Old answer

public bool F(string s){TextBox t=new TextBox();t.SpellCheck.IsEnabled=true;t.Text=s;SpellingError e=t.GetSpellingError(0);return e==null;}

Answer 7

Mathematica, 33 bytes

Hey, somebody had to do it!

Length[DictionaryLookup[Input[]]]

Self-explanatory.

Answer 8

Lexurgy, 106 bytes

Lexurgy, despite the fact it's meant for constructed languages, can be used for natural language processing as well.

Keeps the input if it thinks it's a word, and an empty string if it thinks it's not.

Reimplements @Sp3000's regex, so this fails at the same rate (660 misclassifications).

Class V {a,e,i,o,u}
Class F {j,q,x,z}
a propagate:
[]? !@V !@V !@V []?=>*
[]=>*/{_ @F,@F _}
v:
@F=>*

Explanation:

# Define the classes
Class V {a,e,i,o,u}
Class F {j,q,x,z} # forbidden letters

a propagate:           # while the input is changed from last iteration:
[]? !@V !@V !@V []?=>* #   remove `[^aeiou]{3}`
[]=>*/{_ @F,@F _}      #   remove any letters next to the forbidden ones
v:                     # then:
@F=>*                  #   remove the forbidden letters

Answer 9

Javascript ES6, 32 bytes:

Using the regex from @Sp3000 answer:

s=>!/[^aeiou]{3}|[jqxz]/.test(s)

This creates an anonymous function. To use it, you simply wrap it around ().

Example:

(s=>!/[^aeiou]{3}|[jqxz]/.test(s))('word')

This has exactly the same fail rate as @Sp3000, and returns true or false accordingly.

All credits due to @Sp3000 for letting me use his regex.