Which to use
“raked” is an adjective and “rakes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,660
- “raked” frequency rank
- #41,329
- “rakes” frequency rank
- 75989
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | raked | rakes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sloping | plural of rake |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set raked and rakes apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: raked is /ɹeɪkt/ while rakes is /ɹeɪks/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - d in “raked” becomes s in “rakes”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75989, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
raked is recorded at frequency rank #34,660, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɹeɪkt/. rakes is at rank #41,329, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹeɪks/.
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 75989, this pair ranks #31,431 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of raked vs rakes
Shared letters: aekr. Private to "raked": d. Private to "rakes": s.
"raked" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "rakes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "raked" and "rakes" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "raked" or "rakes"?
Remembering raked vs rakes
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “raked”; for a noun, it's “rakes”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “raked” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable