conductvsconductedWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: conduct is a noun, conducted is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“conduct” is a noun and “conducted” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,884
“conduct” frequency rank
#2,571
“conducted” frequency rank
5455
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature conduct conducted
Definition The act or method of controlling or directing. simple past and past participle of conduct

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set conduct and conducted apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
conduct
9 ch
conducted

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

conduct and conducted form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “conduct” sits inside “conducted” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5455, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

conduct is recorded at frequency rank #2,884, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɒndʌkt/. conducted is at rank #2,571, tagged as averb, pronounced /kənˈdʌktɪd/.

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 5455, this pair ranks #515,283 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

conduct#2,884
conducted#2,571

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "conduct" and "conducted" be used interchangeably?
No, "conduct" and "conducted" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering conduct vs conducted

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “conduct”; for a verb, it's “conducted”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “conduct” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list