amend vs amended, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“amend” is a verb and “amended” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,854
“amend” frequency rank: #9,847
“amended” frequency rank: 23701
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	amend	amended
Definition	To make better; improve.	That has been modified from a previous form.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set amend and amended apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

amend

7 ch

amended

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: amend is averb and amendedanadjective. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “amend” sits inside “amended”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23701, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

amend is recorded at frequency rank #13,854, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈmɛnd/. amended is at rank #9,847, tagged as anadj.

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 23701, this pair ranks #407,395 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of amend vs amended

Shared letters: ademn. Private to "amend": -. Private to "amended": -.

"amend" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC · "amended" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

amend ← aemnd · amedn · amendd · amennd · ammend · amned · maend
amended ← aemnded · amedned · amendde · amendded · amendedd · amenedd · amennded · ammended

Frequency comparison

amend#13,854

amended#9,847

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "amend" and "amended" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "amend" is a verb and "amended" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "amend" or "amended"?

"amended" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,847 in our English list, against #13,854 for "amend". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering amend vs amended

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “amend”; for an adjective, it's “amended”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “amend” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable