Which to use
“commanded” is a verb and “commander” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,015
- “commanded” frequency rank
- #2,935
- “commander” frequency rank
- 12950
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | commanded | commander |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of command | One who exercises control and direction of a military or naval organization. |
Where the eye mixes commanded and commander
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses commanded with commander
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: commanded is /kəˈmændɪd/ while commander is /kəˈmændɚ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - d in “commanded” becomes r in “commander”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12950, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
commanded is recorded at frequency rank #10,015, classified as averb, pronounced /kəˈmændɪd/. commander is at rank #2,935, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kəˈmændɚ/.
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 12950, this pair ranks #478,586 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of commanded vs commander
Shared letters: acdemno. Private to "commanded": -. Private to "commander": r.
"commanded" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "commander" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "commanded" for "commander" ever safe?
Which is more common, "commanded" or "commander"?
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 "commanded" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "commander" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #478,586 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "commanded" and "commander" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "commander vs commoner". 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 #478,586 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.