Which to use
“effected” and “erected” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,321
- “effected” frequency rank
- #8,924
- “erected” frequency rank
- 28245
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | effected | erected |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of effect | simple past and past participle of erect |
Where the eye mixes effected and erected
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between effected and erected
A purely visual mix-up. effected (/ɪˈfɛktɪd/) and erected (/ɪˈɹɛktɪd/) 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 28245, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
effected is recorded at frequency rank #19,321, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪˈfɛktɪd/. erected is at rank #8,924, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɪˈɹɛktɪd/.
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 28245, this pair ranks #372,567 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of effected vs erected
Shared letters: cdet. Private to "effected": f. Private to "erected": r.
"effected" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "erected" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "effected" for "erected" ever safe?
Frequency check: "effected" vs "erected" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "effected" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erected" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #372,567 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "effected" and "erected" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "effected vs effector". 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 #372,567 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.