amended vs amends, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#9,847
“amended” frequency rank: #19,010
“amends” frequency rank: 28857
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	amended	amends
Definition	That has been modified from a previous form.	plural of amend

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch

amended

6 ch

amends

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: amended is anadjective and amendsanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28857, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

amended is recorded at frequency rank #9,847, classified as anadj. amends is at rank #19,010, tagged as anoun, pronounced /əˈmɛndz/.

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 28857, this pair ranks #367,736 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of amended vs amends

Shared letters: ademn. Private to "amended": -. Private to "amends": s.

"amended" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC · "amends" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

amended ← aemnded · amedned · amendde · amendded · amendedd · amenedd · amennded · ammended
amends ← aemnds · amedns · amendds · amendss · amennds · amensd · ammends · amneds

Frequency comparison

amended#9,847

amends#19,010

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

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

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

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

"amended" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,847 in our English list, against #19,010 for "amends". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering amended vs amends

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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