Which to use
“overtake” and “overtaken” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,653
- “overtake” frequency rank
- #24,264
- “overtaken” frequency rank
- 43917
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | overtake | overtaken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To pass a slower moving object or entity (on the side closest to oncoming traffic). | past participle of overtake |
Where the eye mixes overtake and overtaken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. overtake runs 8 letters (VCVCCVCV) against overtaken's 9 (VCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses overtake with overtaken
A purely visual mix-up. overtake (/əʊvə(ɹ)ˈteɪk/) and overtaken (/ˈəʊvəɹteɪkən/) 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) - “overtake” sits inside “overtaken”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43917, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
overtake is recorded at frequency rank #19,653, classified as averb, pronounced /əʊvə(ɹ)ˈteɪk/. overtaken is at rank #24,264, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈəʊvəɹteɪkən/.
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 43917, this pair ranks #235,425 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of overtake vs overtaken
Shared letters: aekortv. Private to "overtake": -. Private to "overtaken": n.
"overtake" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCV · "overtaken" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "overtake" and "overtaken" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "overtake" or "overtaken" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "overtake" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "overtaken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #235,425 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "overtake" and "overtaken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "overstate vs overtake". 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 #235,425 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.