Which to use
“investigation” is a noun and “investigative” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,831
- “investigation” frequency rank
- #11,560
- “investigative” frequency rank
- 13391
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | investigation | investigative |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The act of investigating; the process of inquiring into or following up; research, especially patient or thorough inquiry or examination | Of or pertaining to investigation or an investigation. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set investigation and investigative apart are highlighted. They share 11 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
investigation and investigative form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13391, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
investigation is recorded at frequency rank #1,831, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɪnˌvɛs.tɪˈɡeɪ.ʃən/. investigative is at rank #11,560, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɪnˈvɛstɪɡətɪv/.
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 13391, this pair ranks #476,100 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "investigation" and "investigative" be used interchangeably?
Remembering investigation vs investigative
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “investigation”; for an adjective, it's “investigative”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “investigation” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable