Which to use
“pour” and “poured” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,085
- “pour” frequency rank
- #9,381
- “poured” frequency rank
- 15466
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pour | poured |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To cause (liquid, or liquid-like substance) to flow in a stream, either out of a container or into it. | simple past and past participle of pour |
Where the eye mixes pour and poured
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. pour (/pɔː/) and poured (/pɔːd/) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “pour” sits inside “poured”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15466, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pour is recorded at frequency rank #6,085, classified as averb, pronounced /pɔː/. poured is at rank #9,381, tagged as averb, pronounced /pɔːd/.
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 15466, this pair ranks #463,766 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pour vs poured
Shared letters: opru. Private to "pour": -. Private to "poured": de.
"pour" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "poured" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pour" and "poured" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "pour" or "poured"?
What to do next
You've compared "pour" and "poured". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "pour" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "poured" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #463,766 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pour" and "poured" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "poured vs pruned". 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
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.