attendedvsattendeesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: attended is a verb, attendees is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“attended” is a verb and “attendees” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,146
“attended” frequency rank
#13,857
“attendees” frequency rank
17003
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature attended attendees
Definition simple past and past participle of attend plural of attendee

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set attended and attendees apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
attended
9 ch
attendees

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: attended is /əˈtɛndɪd/ while attendees is /əˌtɛnˈdiːz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17003, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

attended is recorded at frequency rank #3,146, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈtɛndɪd/. attendees is at rank #13,857, tagged as anoun, pronounced /əˌtɛnˈdiːz/.

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 17003, this pair ranks #454,252 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of attended vs attendees

Shared letters: adent. Private to "attended": -. Private to "attendees": s.

"attended" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "attendees" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • attendedatended · atetnded · attedned · attendde · attendded · attendedd · attenedd · attennded
  • attendeesatendees · atetndees · attednees · attenddees · attendeess · attendes · attendese · attenedes

Frequency comparison

attended#3,146
attendees#13,857

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "attended" and "attendees" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "attended" is a verb and "attendees" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "attended" or "attendees"?
"attended" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,146 in our English list, against #13,857 for "attendees". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering attended vs attendees

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list