Which to use
“promise” is a noun and “promised” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,009
- “promise” frequency rank
- #3,079
- “promised” frequency rank
- 5088
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | promise | promised |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An oath or affirmation; a vow. | Predicted; expected; anticipated. |
Where the eye mixes promise and promised
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: promise vs promised
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: promise is /ˈpɹɒmɪs/ while promised is /ˈpɹɒm.ɪst/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “promise” sits inside “promised”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5088, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
promise is recorded at frequency rank #2,009, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɹɒmɪs/. promised is at rank #3,079, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈpɹɒm.ɪst/.
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 5088, this pair ranks #516,631 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of promise vs promised
Shared letters: eimoprs. Private to "promise": -. Private to "promised": d.
"promise" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV · "promised" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "promise" and "promised" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "promise" vs "promised" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "promise" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "promised" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #516,631 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "promise" and "promised" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "promise vs proviso". 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 #516,631 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.