Which to use
“communicate” is a verb and “communicative” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,112
- “communicate” frequency rank
- #31,115
- “communicative” frequency rank
- 36227
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | communicate | communicative |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To impart. | Eager to communicate; talkative. |
Where the eye mixes communicate and communicative
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: communicate vs communicative
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: communicate is /kəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/ while communicative is /kəˈmjuː.nɪ.kə.tɪv/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36227, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
communicate is recorded at frequency rank #5,112, classified as averb, pronounced /kəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/. communicative is at rank #31,115, tagged as anadj, pronounced /kəˈmjuː.nɪ.kə.tɪv/.
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 36227, this pair ranks #305,011 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of communicate vs communicative
Shared letters: aceimnotu. Private to "communicate": -. Private to "communicative": v.
"communicate" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVCV · "communicative" · 13 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- communicate ← ccommunicate · cmomunicate · commnuicate · commuincate · communciate · communiacte · communicaet · communicatte
- communicative ← ccommunicative · cmomunicative · commnuicative · commuincative · communciative · communiactive · communicaitve · communicatiev
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "communicate" and "communicative" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "communicate" or "communicative"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "communicate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "communicative" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #305,011 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "communicate" and "communicative" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "communicable vs communicate". 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 #305,011 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.