Which to use
“recommend” and “recommended” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,459
- “recommend” frequency rank
- #3,018
- “recommended” frequency rank
- 5477
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | recommend | recommended |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To bestow commendation on; to represent favourably; to suggest, endorse or encourage as an appropriate choice. | simple past and past participle of recommend |
Where the eye mixes recommend and recommended
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. recommend runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVCC) against recommended's 11 (CVCVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between recommend and recommended
A purely visual mix-up. recommend (/ˌɹɛkəˈmɛnd/) and recommended (/ˌɹɛkəˈmɛndɪd/) 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) - “recommend” sits inside “recommended”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5477, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
recommend is recorded at frequency rank #2,459, classified as averb, pronounced /ˌɹɛkəˈmɛnd/. recommended is at rank #3,018, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˌɹɛkəˈmɛndɪd/.
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 5477, this pair ranks #515,189 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of recommend vs recommended
Shared letters: cdemnor. Private to "recommend": -. Private to "recommended": -.
"recommend" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC · "recommended" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- recommend ← ercommend · rceommend · reccommend · recmomend · recomemnd · recomend · recommedn · recommendd
- recommended ← ercommended · rceommended · reccommended · recmomended · recomemnded · recomended · recommedned · recommendde
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "recommend" and "recommended" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "recommend" or "recommended"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "recommend" and "recommended" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "recommend" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "recommended" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #515,189 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- 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 #515,189 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.