partedvspiratedWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: parted is a verb, pirated is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“parted” is a verb and “pirated” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,296
“parted” frequency rank
#35,017
“pirated” frequency rank
51313
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature parted pirated
Definition simple past and past participle of part Synonym of pirate.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set parted and pirated apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
parted
7 ch
pirated

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: parted is averb and piratedanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51313, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

parted is recorded at frequency rank #16,296, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈpɑɹtɪd/. pirated is at rank #35,017, tagged as anadj.

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 51313, this pair ranks #166,556 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of parted vs pirated

Shared letters: adeprt. Private to "parted": -. Private to "pirated": i.

"parted" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "pirated" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • partedaprted · paretd · parrted · partde · partedd · partted · patred · pparted
  • piratediprated · piarted · piraetd · piratde · piratedd · piratted · pirrated · pirtaed

Frequency comparison

parted#16,296
pirated#35,017

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "parted" and "pirated" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "parted" is a verb and "pirated" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "parted" or "pirated"?
"parted" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,296 in our English list, against #35,017 for "pirated". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering parted vs pirated

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “parted”; for an adjective, it's “pirated”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “parted” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list