Which to use
“approved” is an adjective and “approves” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,280
- “approved” frequency rank
- #16,636
- “approves” frequency rank
- 18916
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | approved | approves |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Having received approval. | third-person singular simple present indicative of approve |
Where the eye mixes approved and approves
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses approved with approves
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: approved is /əˈpɹuːvd/ while approves is /əˈpɹuːvz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - d in “approved” becomes s in “approves”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18916, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
approved is recorded at frequency rank #2,280, classified as anadj, pronounced /əˈpɹuːvd/. approves is at rank #16,636, tagged as averb, pronounced /əˈpɹuːvz/.
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 18916, this pair ranks #441,720 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of approved vs approves
Shared letters: aeoprv. Private to "approved": d. Private to "approves": s.
"approved" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC · "approves" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "approved" for "approves" ever safe?
Which is more common, "approved" or "approves"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "approved" and "approves" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "approved" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "approves" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #441,720 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "approved" and "approves" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "approve vs approves". 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 #441,720 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.