Which to use
“marking” is a noun and “mocking” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,713
- “marking” frequency rank
- #13,962
- “mocking” frequency rank
- 21675
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | marking | mocking |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The action of marking. | present participle and gerund of mock |
Where the eye mixes marking and mocking
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between marking and mocking
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: marking is /ˈmɑɹkɪŋ/ while mocking is /ˈmɑkɪŋ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21675, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
marking is recorded at frequency rank #7,713, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɑɹkɪŋ/. mocking is at rank #13,962, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈmɑkɪŋ/.
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 21675, this pair ranks #422,190 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of marking vs mocking
Shared letters: gikmn. Private to "marking": ar. Private to "mocking": co.
"marking" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "mocking" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "marking" for "mocking" ever safe?
Which is more common, "marking" or "mocking"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "marking" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mocking" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #422,190 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "marking" and "mocking" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mocking vs mockingly". 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 #422,190 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.