Which to use
“question” is a noun and “questioned” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #448
- “question” frequency rank
- #6,954
- “questioned” frequency rank
- 7402
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | question | questioned |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A worded or expressed sentence, phrase, or only a word on its own, which asks for information, a reply, or a response; an interrogative. | simple past and past participle of question |
Where the eye mixes question and questioned
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: question vs questioned
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: question is /ˈkwɛs.tʃən/ while questioned is /ˈkwɛst͡ʃənd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “question” sits inside “questioned”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7402, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
question is recorded at frequency rank #448, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkwɛs.tʃən/. questioned is at rank #6,954, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈkwɛst͡ʃənd/.
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 7402, this pair ranks #507,259 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of question vs questioned
Shared letters: einoqstu. Private to "question": -. Private to "questioned": d.
"question" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVVC · "questioned" · 10 letters · shape CVVCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- question ← qeustion · qquestion · quesiton · quession · quesstion · questino · questionn · questoin
- questioned ← qeustioned · qquestioned · quesitoned · quesstioned · questinoed · questioend · questionde · questionedd
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "question" for "questioned" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "question" or "questioned" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "question" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "questioned" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #507,259 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "question" and "questioned" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Quentin vs question". 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 #507,259 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.