Which to use
“dart” is a noun and “darted” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,505
- “dart” frequency rank
- #48,174
- “darted” frequency rank
- 62679
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dart | darted |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A pointed missile weapon, intended to be thrown by the hand; for example, a short lance or javelin. | simple past and past participle of dart |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dart and darted apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dart is /dɑːt/ while darted is /ˈdɑɹtɪd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “dart” sits inside “darted”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62679, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dart is recorded at frequency rank #14,505, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɑːt/. darted is at rank #48,174, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈdɑɹtɪd/.
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 62679, this pair ranks #87,115 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dart vs darted
Shared letters: adrt. Private to "dart": -. Private to "darted": e.
"dart" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "darted" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dart" and "darted" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "dart" or "darted"?
Remembering dart vs darted
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “dart”; for a verb, it's “darted”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dart” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable