Which to use
“plough” is a noun and “ploughed” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,887
- “plough” frequency rank
- #38,556
- “ploughed” frequency rank
- 64443
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | plough | ploughed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A device pulled through the ground in order to break it open into furrows for planting. | Turned over with the blade of a plough to create furrows (usually for planting crops). |
Letter map: plough vs ploughed
Shared letters muted; letters that set plough and ploughed apart highlighted. Shared run: 6.
Role in the sentence - plough and ploughed
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: plough is anoun and ploughedanadjective. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “plough” sits inside “ploughed”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64443, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
plough is recorded at frequency rank #25,887, classified as anoun, pronounced /plaʊ/. ploughed is at rank #38,556, 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 64443, this pair ranks #77,693 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of plough vs ploughed
Shared letters: ghlopu. Private to "plough": -. Private to "ploughed": de.
"plough" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC · "ploughed" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "plough" and "ploughed" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "plough" or "ploughed"?
What to do next
Pair "plough" vs "ploughed" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "plough" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ploughed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #77,693 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "plough" and "ploughed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "plough vs Pugh". 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 #77,693 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.