Which to use
“mistaken” is a verb and “mistaking” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,363
- “mistaken” frequency rank
- #28,627
- “mistaking” frequency rank
- 35990
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mistaken | mistaking |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | past participle of mistake | A mistake. |
Letter map: mistaken vs mistaking
Shared letters muted; letters that set mistaken and mistaking apart highlighted. Shared run: 7. mistaken runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against mistaking's 9 (CVCCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Role in the sentence - mistaken and mistaking
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: mistaken is averb and mistakinganoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35990, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mistaken is recorded at frequency rank #7,363, classified as averb, pronounced /mɪˈsteɪkn̩/. mistaking is at rank #28,627, tagged as anoun.
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 35990, this pair ranks #307,169 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mistaken vs mistaking
Shared letters: aikmnst. Private to "mistaken": e. Private to "mistaking": g.
"mistaken" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "mistaking" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mistaken" for "mistaking" ever safe?
Frequency check: "mistaken" vs "mistaking" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "mistaken" and "mistaking".
- Full dictionary entry for "mistaken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mistaking" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #307,169 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mistaken" and "mistaking" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mistaken vs mistakenly". 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 #307,169 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.