Which to use
“opened” is a verb and “opens” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,490
- “opened” frequency rank
- #3,441
- “opens” frequency rank
- 4931
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | opened | opens |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of open | plural of open |
Where the eye mixes opened and opens
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses opened with opens
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: opened is /ˈoʊpənd/ while opens is /ˈoʊ.pənz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4931, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
opened is recorded at frequency rank #1,490, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈoʊpənd/. opens is at rank #3,441, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈoʊ.pənz/.
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 4931, this pair ranks #517,192 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of opened vs opens
Shared letters: enop. Private to "opened": d. Private to "opens": s.
"opened" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC · "opens" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "opened" for "opens" ever safe?
Frequency check: "opened" vs "opens" - which ranks higher?
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 "opened" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "opens" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #517,192 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "opened" and "opens" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "opens vs Oren". 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 #517,192 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.