reportedvsreportsWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: reported is a verb, reports is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“reported” is a verb and “reports” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,096
“reported” frequency rank
#1,353
“reports” frequency rank
2449
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature reported reports
Definition simple past and past participle of report plural of report

Where the eye mixes reported and reports

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

8 ch
reported
7 ch
reports

Visual trap between reported and reports

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: reported is /ɹɪˈpɔɹtɪd/ while reports is /ɹɪˈpɔɹts/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2449, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reported is recorded at frequency rank #1,096, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈpɔɹtɪd/. reports is at rank #1,353, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈpɔɹts/.

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 2449, this pair ranks #524,950 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of reported vs reports

Shared letters: eoprt. Private to "reported": d. Private to "reports": s.

"reported" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "reports" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reportederported · reoprted · reporetd · reporrted · reportde · reportedd · reportted · repotred
  • reportserports · reoprts · reporrts · reporst · reportss · reportts · repotrs · repports

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "reported" and "reports" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "reported" is a verb and "reports" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "reported" vs "reports" - which ranks higher?
"reported" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,096 in our English list, against #1,353 for "reports". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "reported" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "reports" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #524,950 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "reported" and "reports" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reported 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 #524,950 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