dartedvsdartsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: darted is a verb, darts is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“darted” is a verb and “darts” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#48,174
“darted” frequency rank
#16,884
“darts” frequency rank
65058
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature darted darts
Definition simple past and past participle of dart A game or sport in which darts are thrown at a board, and points are scored depending on where the darts land.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set darted and darts apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
darted
5 ch
darts

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: darted is /ˈdɑɹtɪd/ while darts is /ˈdɑːts/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65058, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

darted is recorded at frequency rank #48,174, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈdɑɹtɪd/. darts is at rank #16,884, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈdɑːts/.

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 65058, this pair ranks #74,635 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of darted vs darts

Shared letters: adrt. Private to "darted": e. Private to "darts": s.

"darted" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "darts" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dartedadrted · daretd · darrted · dartde · dartedd · dartted · datred · ddarted
  • dartsadrts · darrts · darst · dartss · dartts · datrs · ddarts · drats

Frequency comparison

darted#48,174
darts#16,884

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "darted" and "darts" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "darted" is a verb and "darts" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "darted" or "darts"?
"darts" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,884 in our English list, against #48,174 for "darted". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering darted vs darts

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “darted”; for a noun, it's “darts”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “darted” 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