Which to use
“increased” is a verb and “increases” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,308
- “increased” frequency rank
- #3,239
- “increases” frequency rank
- 4547
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | increased | increases |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of increase | plural of increase |
Where the eye mixes increased and increases
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. increased and increases follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses increased with increases
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: increased is /ɪnˈkɹiːst/ while increases is /ɪnˈkɹisɪz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - d in “increased” becomes s in “increases”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4547, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
increased is recorded at frequency rank #1,308, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪnˈkɹiːst/. increases is at rank #3,239, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɪnˈkɹisɪz/.
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 4547, this pair ranks #518,560 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of increased vs increases
Shared letters: aceinrs. Private to "increased": d. Private to "increases": -.
"increased" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVVCVC · "increases" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "increased" for "increases" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "increased" or "increases" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "increased" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "increases" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #518,560 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "increased" and "increases" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "incensed vs increased". 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 #518,560 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.