Which to use
“pattern” is a noun and “patterned” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,691
- “pattern” frequency rank
- #21,020
- “patterned” frequency rank
- 23711
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pattern | patterned |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Model, example. | Conformed to a pattern, a model to be followed. |
Letter map: pattern vs patterned
Shared letters muted; letters that set pattern and patterned apart highlighted. Shared run: 7.
Role in the sentence - pattern and patterned
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: pattern is anoun and patternedanadjective. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “pattern” sits inside “patterned”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23711, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pattern is recorded at frequency rank #2,691, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpæ̞t(ə)n/. patterned is at rank #21,020, 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 23711, this pair ranks #407,309 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pattern vs patterned
Shared letters: aenprt. Private to "pattern": -. Private to "patterned": d.
"pattern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "patterned" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pattern" and "patterned" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "pattern" or "patterned" show up more?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "pattern" and "patterned".
- Full dictionary entry for "pattern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "patterned" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #407,309 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pattern" and "patterned" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Paterno vs pattern". 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 #407,309 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.