Which to use
“sent” is a verb and “spent” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #722
- “sent” frequency rank
- #1,029
- “spent” frequency rank
- 1751
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sent | spent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of send | Consumed, used up, exhausted, depleted. |
Where the eye mixes sent and spent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between sent and spent
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sent is /sɛnt/ while spent is /spɛnt/. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1751, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sent is recorded at frequency rank #722, classified as averb, pronounced /sɛnt/. spent is at rank #1,029, tagged as anadj, pronounced /spɛnt/.
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 1751, this pair ranks #526,748 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sent vs spent
Shared letters: enst. Private to "sent": -. Private to "spent": p.
"sent" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "spent" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sent" for "spent" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "sent" or "spent" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "sent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #526,748 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sent" and "spent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sent vs SNA". 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 #526,748 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.