Which to use
“earn” and “eaten” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,102
- “earn” frequency rank
- #5,786
- “eaten” frequency rank
- 8888
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | earn | eaten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To gain (success, reward, recognition) through applied effort or work. | past participle of eat |
Where the eye mixes earn and eaten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. earn (/ɜːn/) and eaten (/ˈiː.tn̩/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8888, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
earn is recorded at frequency rank #3,102, classified as averb, pronounced /ɜːn/. eaten is at rank #5,786, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈiː.tn̩/.
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 8888, this pair ranks #500,192 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of earn vs eaten
Shared letters: aen. Private to "earn": r. Private to "eaten": t.
"earn" · 4 letters · shape VVCC · "eaten" · 5 letters · shape VVCVC