Which to use
“constituted” and “constitutes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,310
- “constituted” frequency rank
- #10,833
- “constitutes” frequency rank
- 24143
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | constituted | constitutes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of constitute | third-person singular simple present indicative of constitute |
Where the eye mixes constituted and constitutes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: constituted vs constitutes
A purely visual mix-up. constituted (/ˈkɑnstɪtutɪd/) and constitutes (/ˈkɑnstɪtuts/) 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 a single letter - d in “constituted” becomes s in “constitutes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24143, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
constituted is recorded at frequency rank #13,310, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈkɑnstɪtutɪd/. constitutes is at rank #10,833, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈkɑnstɪtuts/.
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 24143, this pair ranks #404,121 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of constituted vs constitutes
Shared letters: ceinostu. Private to "constituted": d. Private to "constitutes": -.
"constituted" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCVC · "constitutes" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- constituted ← cconstituted · cnostituted · connstituted · consittuted · consstituted · constittued · constittuted · constituetd
- constitutes ← cconstitutes · cnostitutes · connstitutes · consittutes · consstitutes · constittues · constittutes · constituets
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "constituted" for "constitutes" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "constituted" or "constitutes" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "constituted" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "constitutes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #404,121 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "constituted" and "constitutes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "constipated vs constituted". 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 #404,121 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.