Which to use
“been” and “bend” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #62
- “been” frequency rank
- #5,762
- “bend” frequency rank
- 5824
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | been | bend |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | past participle of be. | To cause (something) to change its shape into a curve, by physical force, chemical action, or any other means. |
Where the eye mixes been and bend
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. been (/bɪn/) and bend (/bɛnd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5824, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
been is recorded at frequency rank #62, classified as averb, pronounced /bɪn/. bend is at rank #5,762, tagged as averb, pronounced /bɛnd/.
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 5824, this pair ranks #513,882 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of been vs bend
Shared letters: ben. Private to "been": -. Private to "bend": d.
"been" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "bend" · 4 letters · shape CVCC