gradevsgradedWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,660
“grade” frequency rank
#16,034
“graded” frequency rank
17694
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature grade graded
Definition A rating. simple past and past participle of grade

Where the eye mixes grade and graded

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
grade
6 ch
graded

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: grade is /ɡɹeɪd/ while graded is /ˈɡɹeɪdɪd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “grade” sits inside “graded”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17694, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

grade is recorded at frequency rank #1,660, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɡɹeɪd/. graded is at rank #16,034, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈɡɹeɪdɪd/.

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 17694, this pair ranks #449,749 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of grade vs graded

Shared letters: adegr. Private to "grade": -. Private to "graded": -.

"grade" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "graded" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gradegarde · ggrade · gradde · graed · grdae · grrade · rgade
  • gradedgarded · ggraded · gradded · gradedd · graedd · grdaed · grraded · rgaded

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "grade" and "graded" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "grade" is a noun and "graded" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "grade" or "graded"?
"grade" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,660 in our English list, against #16,034 for "graded". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "grade" and "graded". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "grade" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "graded" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #449,749 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "grade" and "graded" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "glades vs graded". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list