cravedvscravesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“craved” and “craves” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#32,749
“craved” frequency rank
#32,750
“craves” frequency rank
65499
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature craved craves
Definition simple past and past participle of crave third-person singular simple present indicative of crave

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set craved and craves apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
craved
6 ch
craves

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. craved (/kɹeɪvd/) and craves (/kɹeɪvz/) 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 “craved” becomes s in “craves”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65499, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

craved is recorded at frequency rank #32,749, classified as averb, pronounced /kɹeɪvd/. craves is at rank #32,750, tagged as averb, pronounced /kɹeɪvz/.

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 65499, this pair ranks #72,440 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of craved vs craves

Shared letters: acerv. Private to "craved": d. Private to "craves": s.

"craved" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "craves" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cravedccraved · craevd · cravde · cravedd · cravved · crraved · crvaed · rcaved
  • cravescarves · ccraves · craevs · cravess · cravse · cravves · crraves · crvaes

Frequency comparison

craved#32,749
craves#32,750

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "craved" and "craves" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/kɹeɪvd/ versus /kɹeɪvz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "craved" or "craves"?
"craved" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,749 in our English list, against #32,750 for "craves". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering craved vs craves

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “craved” 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