Which to use
“competing” is an adjective and “completing” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,931
- “competing” frequency rank
- #6,451
- “completing” frequency rank
- 11382
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | competing | completing |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Being in the state of competition (often unintentionally). | present participle and gerund of complete |
Where the eye mixes competing and completing
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between competing and completing
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: competing is /kəmˈpiːtɪŋ/ while completing is /kəmˈpliːtɪŋ/. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11382, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
competing is recorded at frequency rank #4,931, classified as anadj, pronounced /kəmˈpiːtɪŋ/. completing is at rank #6,451, tagged as averb, pronounced /kəmˈpliːtɪŋ/.
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 11382, this pair ranks #487,363 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of competing vs completing
Shared letters: cegimnopt. Private to "competing": -. Private to "completing": l.
"competing" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCC · "completing" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- competing ← ccompeting · cmopeting · comepting · commpeting · compeitng · competign · competingg · competinng
- completing ← ccompleting · cmopleting · comlpeting · commpleting · compelting · compleitng · completign · completingg
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "competing" for "completing" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "competing" or "completing" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "competing" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "completing" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #487,363 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "competing" and "completing" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "carpeting vs competing". 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 #487,363 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.