Which to use
“reduced” and “reduces” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,309
- “reduced” frequency rank
- #7,381
- “reduces” frequency rank
- 9690
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reduced | reduces |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of reduce | third-person singular simple present indicative of reduce |
Where the eye mixes reduced and reduces
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. reduced and reduces follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: reduced vs reduces
A purely visual mix-up. reduced (/ɹɪˈdjuːst/) and reduces (/ɹɪˈdjuː.sɪz/) 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 a single letter - d in “reduced” becomes s in “reduces”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9690, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
reduced is recorded at frequency rank #2,309, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈdjuːst/. reduces is at rank #7,381, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈdjuː.sɪz/.
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 9690, this pair ranks #496,121 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of reduced vs reduces
Shared letters: cderu. Private to "reduced": -. Private to "reduces": s.
"reduced" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "reduces" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "reduced" and "reduces" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "reduced" vs "reduces" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "reduced" and "reduces" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "reduced" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "reduces" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #496,121 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reduced" and "reduces" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "redacted vs reduced". 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 #496,121 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.