jumpvsjumpedWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“jump” and “jumped” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,078
“jump” frequency rank
#4,683
“jumped” frequency rank
6761
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature jump jumped
Definition To propel oneself rapidly upward, downward and/or in any horizontal direction such that momentum causes the body to become airborne. simple past and past participle of jump

Where the eye mixes jump and jumped

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. jump runs 4 letters (CVCC) against jumped's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
jump
6 ch
jumped

Why the eye confuses jump with jumped

A purely visual mix-up. jump (/d͡ʒʌmp/) and jumped (/d͡ʒʌmpt/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “jump” sits inside “jumped”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6761, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

jump is recorded at frequency rank #2,078, classified as averb, pronounced /d͡ʒʌmp/. jumped is at rank #4,683, tagged as averb, pronounced /d͡ʒʌmpt/.

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 6761, this pair ranks #510,086 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of jump vs jumped

Shared letters: jmpu. Private to "jump": -. Private to "jumped": de.

"jump" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "jumped" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • jump ← jjump · jmup · jummp · jumpp · jupm · ujmp
  • jumped ← jjumped · jmuped · jumepd · jummped · jumpde · jumpedd · jumpped · jupmed

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "jump" and "jumped" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/d͡ʒʌmp/ versus /d͡ʒʌmpt/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "jump" or "jumped"?
"jump" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,078 in our English list, against #4,683 for "jumped". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "jump" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "jumped" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #510,086 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "jump" and "jumped" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "juiced vs jumped". 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 #510,086 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