Which to use
“cooperate” is a verb and “cooperative” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,723
- “cooperate” frequency rank
- #8,769
- “cooperative” frequency rank
- 18492
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cooperate | cooperative |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To work or act together, especially for a common purpose or benefit. | Ready to work with another person or in a team; ready to cooperate. |
Where the eye mixes cooperate and cooperative
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cooperate with cooperative
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cooperate is /kəʊˈɒp.ə.ɹeɪt/ while cooperative is /kuˈɑp.ɹətɪv/. 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 18492, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cooperate is recorded at frequency rank #9,723, classified as averb, pronounced /kəʊˈɒp.ə.ɹeɪt/. cooperative is at rank #8,769, tagged as anadj, pronounced /kuˈɑp.ɹətɪv/.
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 18492, this pair ranks #444,540 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cooperate vs cooperative
Shared letters: aceoprt. Private to "cooperate": -. Private to "cooperative": iv.
"cooperate" · 9 letters · shape CVVCVCVCV · "cooperative" · 11 letters · shape CVVCVCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- cooperate ← ccooperate · cooeprate · coopearte · cooperaet · cooperatte · cooperrate · coopertae · coopperate
- cooperative ← ccooperative · cooeprative · coopeartive · cooperaitve · cooperatiev · cooperativve · cooperattive · cooperatvie
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cooperate" for "cooperative" ever safe?
Which is more common, "cooperate" or "cooperative"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cooperate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cooperative" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #444,540 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cooperate" and "cooperative" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cooperative vs cooperatively". 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 #444,540 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.