Which to use
“patted” and “planted” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,148
- “patted” frequency rank
- #6,724
- “planted” frequency rank
- 43872
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | patted | planted |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of pat | simple past and past participle of plant |
Where the eye mixes patted and planted
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses patted with planted
A purely visual mix-up. patted (/ˈpatɪd/) and planted (/ˈplɑːntɪd/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43872, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
patted is recorded at frequency rank #37,148, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈpatɪd/. planted is at rank #6,724, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈplɑːntɪd/.
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 43872, this pair ranks #235,890 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of patted vs planted
Shared letters: adept. Private to "patted": -. Private to "planted": ln.
"patted" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "planted" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "patted" and "planted" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "patted" vs "planted" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "patted" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "planted" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #235,890 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "patted" and "planted" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pared vs patted". 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 #235,890 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.