Which to use
“repair” and “repaired” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,582
- “repair” frequency rank
- #10,119
- “repaired” frequency rank
- 13701
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | repair | repaired |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To restore to good working order, fix, or improve damaged condition; to mend; to remedy. | simple past and past participle of repair |
Where the eye mixes repair and repaired
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses repair with repaired
A purely visual mix-up. repair (/ɹɪˈpɛə/) and repaired (/ɹɪˈpɛɹd/) 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) - “repair” sits inside “repaired”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13701, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
repair is recorded at frequency rank #3,582, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈpɛə/. repaired is at rank #10,119, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈpɛɹd/.
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 13701, this pair ranks #474,301 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of repair vs repaired
Shared letters: aeipr. Private to "repair": -. Private to "repaired": d.
"repair" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "repaired" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "repair" and "repaired" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "repair" or "repaired"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "repair" and "repaired" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "repair" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "repaired" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #474,301 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "repair" and "repaired" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rebar vs repair". 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 #474,301 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.