Which to use
“consist” and “consisted” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,781
- “consist” frequency rank
- #8,133
- “consisted” frequency rank
- 15914
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | consist | consisted |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To be. | simple past and past participle of consist |
Where the eye mixes consist and consisted
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: consist vs consisted
A purely visual mix-up. consist (/kənˈsɪst/) and consisted (/kənˈsɪstɪd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “consist” sits inside “consisted”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15914, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
consist is recorded at frequency rank #7,781, classified as averb, pronounced /kənˈsɪst/. consisted is at rank #8,133, tagged as averb, pronounced /kənˈsɪstɪd/.
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 15914, this pair ranks #461,044 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of consist vs consisted
Shared letters: cinost. Private to "consist": -. Private to "consisted": de.
"consist" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "consisted" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "consist" and "consisted" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "consist" or "consisted" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "consist" and "consisted" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "consist" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "consisted" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #461,044 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "consist" and "consisted" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coexist vs consist". 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 #461,044 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.