Which to use
“bends” is a noun and “bent” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,494
- “bends” frequency rank
- #7,199
- “bent” frequency rank
- 25693
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bends | bent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of bend | simple past and past participle of bend |
Where the eye mixes bends and bent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses bends with bent
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bends is /bɛndz/ while bent is /bɛnt/. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25693, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bends is recorded at frequency rank #18,494, classified as anoun, pronounced /bɛndz/. bent is at rank #7,199, tagged as averb, pronounced /bɛnt/.
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 25693, this pair ranks #392,352 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bends vs bent
Shared letters: ben. Private to "bends": ds. Private to "bent": t.
"bends" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "bent" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "bends" and "bent" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "bends" or "bent"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "bends" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #392,352 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bends" and "bent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bends vs bendy". 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 #392,352 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.