faultedvsfaultsWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#40,692
“faulted” frequency rank
#11,545
“faults” frequency rank
52237
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature faulted faults
Definition simple past and past participle of fault plural of fault

Letter map: faulted vs faults

Shared letters muted; letters that set faulted and faults apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. faulted runs 7 letters (CVVCCVC) against faults's 6 (CVVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
faulted
6 ch
faults

Role in the sentence - faulted and faults

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: faulted is averb and faultsanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52237, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

faulted is recorded at frequency rank #40,692, classified as averb. faults is at rank #11,545, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fɔːlts/.

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 52237, this pair ranks #158,738 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of faulted vs faults

Shared letters: afltu. Private to "faulted": de. Private to "faults": s.

"faulted" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "faults" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • faultedafulted · faluted · fauletd · faullted · faultde · faultedd · faultted · fautled
  • faultsafults · faluts · faullts · faulst · faultss · faultts · fautls · ffaults

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "faulted" for "faults" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "faulted" is a verb and "faults" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "faulted" vs "faults" - which ranks higher?
"faults" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,545 in our English list, against #40,692 for "faulted". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pair "faulted" vs "faults" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "faulted" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "faults" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #158,738 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "faulted" and "faults" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "faulted vs fluted". 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 #158,738 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list