Which to use
“cop” is a verb and “coped” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,804
- “cop” frequency rank
- #45,291
- “coped” frequency rank
- 49095
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cop | coped |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | to capture or arrest someone | Clad in a cope. |
Letter map: cop vs coped
Shared letters muted; letters that set cop and coped apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Part-of-speech tell for cop / coped
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: cop is averb and copedanadjective. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “cop” sits inside “coped”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49095, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cop is recorded at frequency rank #3,804, classified as averb, pronounced /kɒp/. coped is at rank #45,291, tagged as anadj.
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 49095, this pair ranks #186,889 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cop vs coped
Shared letters: cop. Private to "cop": -. Private to "coped": de.
"cop" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "coped" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- coped ← ccoped · coepd · copde · copedd · cpoed · ocped
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cop" and "coped" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "cop" or "coped"?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "cop" and "coped".
- Full dictionary entry for "cop" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coped" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #186,889 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cop" and "coped" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coped vs cower". 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 #186,889 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.