Which to use
“prayed” and “prays” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,761
- “prayed” frequency rank
- #25,538
- “prays” frequency rank
- 37299
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prayed | prays |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of pray | third-person singular simple present indicative of pray |
Where the eye mixes prayed and prays
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between prayed and prays
A purely visual mix-up. prayed (/pɹeɪd/) and prays (/pɹeɪz/) 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 37299, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
prayed is recorded at frequency rank #11,761, classified as averb, pronounced /pɹeɪd/. prays is at rank #25,538, tagged as averb, pronounced /pɹeɪz/.
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 37299, this pair ranks #295,778 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of prayed vs prays
Shared letters: apry. Private to "prayed": de. Private to "prays": s.
"prayed" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC · "prays" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "prayed" and "prays" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "prayed" or "prays" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "prayed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prays" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #295,778 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "prayed" and "prays" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prat vs prays". 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 #295,778 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.