Which to use
“preach” and “preached” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,441
- “preach” frequency rank
- #17,925
- “preached” frequency rank
- 29366
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | preach | preached |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To give a sermon. | simple past and past participle of preach |
Where the eye mixes preach and preached
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: preach vs preached
A purely visual mix-up. preach (/pɹiːt͡ʃ/) and preached (/priːt͡ʃt/) 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) - “preach” sits inside “preached”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29366, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
preach is recorded at frequency rank #11,441, classified as averb, pronounced /pɹiːt͡ʃ/. preached is at rank #17,925, tagged as averb, pronounced /priːt͡ʃt/.
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 29366, this pair ranks #363,594 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of preach vs preached
Shared letters: acehpr. Private to "preach": -. Private to "preached": d.
"preach" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC · "preached" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "preach" and "preached" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "preach" or "preached"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "preach" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "preached" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #363,594 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "preach" and "preached" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "poach vs preach". 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 #363,594 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.