Which to use
“required” and “requires” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,027
- “required” frequency rank
- #2,175
- “requires” frequency rank
- 3202
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | required | requires |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of require | third-person singular simple present indicative of require |
Where the eye mixes required and requires
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: required vs requires
A purely visual mix-up. required (/ɹɪˈkwaɪɹd/) and requires (/ɹɪˈkwaɪəz/) 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 “required” becomes s in “requires”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3202, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
required is recorded at frequency rank #1,027, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈkwaɪɹd/. requires is at rank #2,175, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈkwaɪəz/.
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 3202, this pair ranks #522,814 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of required vs requires
Shared letters: eiqru. Private to "required": d. Private to "requires": s.
"required" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "requires" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "required" for "requires" ever safe?
Frequency check: "required" vs "requires" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "required" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "requires" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #522,814 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "required" and "requires" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "requiem vs requires". 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 #522,814 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.