Which to use
“erase” is a verb and “erased” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,886
- “erase” frequency rank
- #15,160
- “erased” frequency rank
- 27046
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erase | erased |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To remove (markings or information). | Having the appearance of being forcibly torn off, with parts left jagged or uneven, as distinguished from couped. |
Letter map: erase vs erased
Shared letters muted; letters that set erase and erased apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. erase runs 5 letters (VCVCV) against erased's 6 (VCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Role in the sentence - erase and erased
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: erase is averb and erasedanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “erase” sits inside “erased”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27046, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erase is recorded at frequency rank #11,886, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪˈɹeɪs/. erased is at rank #15,160, tagged as anadj.
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 27046, this pair ranks #382,072 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of erase vs erased
Shared letters: aers. Private to "erase": -. Private to "erased": d.
"erase" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "erased" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "erase" and "erased" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "erase" or "erased"?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "erase" and "erased".
- Full dictionary entry for "erase" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erased" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #382,072 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erase" and "erased" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erase vs esse". 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 #382,072 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.