Which to use
“like” and “liked” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42
- “like” frequency rank
- #1,795
- “liked” frequency rank
- 1837
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | like | liked |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To enjoy, be pleased by; favor; be in favor of. | simple past and past participle of like |
Where the eye mixes like and liked
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. like (/laɪ̯k/) and liked (/laɪkt/) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “like” sits inside “liked”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1837, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
like is recorded at frequency rank #42, classified as averb, pronounced /laɪ̯k/. liked is at rank #1,795, tagged as averb, pronounced /laɪkt/.
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 1837, this pair ranks #526,509 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of like vs liked
Shared letters: eikl. Private to "like": -. Private to "liked": d.
"like" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "liked" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC