Which to use
“responded” is a verb and “respondent” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,629
- “responded” frequency rank
- #25,903
- “respondent” frequency rank
- 30532
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | responded | respondent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of respond | One who responds; one who replies. |
Where the eye mixes responded and respondent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: responded vs respondent
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: responded is /ɹɪˈspɒndɪd/ while respondent is /ɹɪˈspɒn.dənt/. 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 30532, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
responded is recorded at frequency rank #4,629, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈspɒndɪd/. respondent is at rank #25,903, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈspɒn.dənt/.
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 30532, this pair ranks #353,770 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of responded vs respondent
Shared letters: denoprs. Private to "responded": -. Private to "respondent": t.
"responded" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "respondent" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- responded ← ersponded · repsonded · resopnded · respnoded · respodned · respondde · respondded · respondedd
- respondent ← erspondent · repsondent · resopndent · respnodent · respodnent · responddent · respondennt · respondentt
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "responded" for "respondent" ever safe?
Which is more common, "responded" or "respondent"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "responded" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "respondent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #353,770 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "responded" and "respondent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "resplendent vs respondent". 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 #353,770 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.