# scratching vs stretching

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### scratching
*verb · IPA /ˈskɹæt͡ʃɪŋ/ · frequency rank #13,807*
present participle and gerund of scratch

### stretching
*noun · IPA /ˈstɹɛt͡ʃɪŋ/ · frequency rank #8,989*
The act by which something is stretched.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scratching-vs-stretching