recordedvsreportedWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“recorded” and “reported” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,227
“recorded” frequency rank
#1,096
“reported” frequency rank
3323
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recorded reported
Definition simple past and past participle of record simple past and past participle of report

Where the eye mixes recorded and reported

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
recorded
8 ch
reported

Visual trap between recorded and reported

A purely visual mix-up. recorded (/ɹɪˈkɔːdɪd/) and reported (/ɹɪˈpɔɹtɪd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3323, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recorded is recorded at frequency rank #2,227, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈkɔːdɪd/. reported is at rank #1,096, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈpɔɹtɪd/.

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 3323, this pair ranks #522,447 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of recorded vs reported

Shared letters: deor. Private to "recorded": c. Private to "reported": pt.

"recorded" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "reported" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recordedercorded · rceorded · reccorded · recodred · recordde · recordded · recordedd · recoredd
  • reportederported · reoprted · reporetd · reporrted · reportde · reportedd · reportted · repotred

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "recorded" and "reported" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɹɪˈkɔːdɪd/ versus /ɹɪˈpɔɹtɪd/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "recorded" vs "reported" - which ranks higher?
"reported" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,096 in our English list, against #2,227 for "recorded". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "recorded" and "reported" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "recorded" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "reported" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #522,447 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "recorded" and "reported" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recorded vs retorted". 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 #522,447 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list