Which to use
“rate” is a noun and “rated” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #752
- “rate” frequency rank
- #4,324
- “rated” frequency rank
- 5076
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rate | rated |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The worth of something; value. | Scolded, rebuked. |
Where the eye mixes rate and rated
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rate is /ɹeɪt/ while rated is /ˈɹeɪtɪd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “rate” sits inside “rated”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5076, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rate is recorded at frequency rank #752, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹeɪt/. rated is at rank #4,324, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈɹeɪtɪd/.
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 5076, this pair ranks #516,678 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of rate vs rated
Shared letters: aert. Private to "rate": -. Private to "rated": d.
"rate" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "rated" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC