shoutedvsshoutsTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#9,955
“shouted” frequency rank
#14,216
“shouts” frequency rank
24171
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature shouted shouts
Definition simple past and past participle of shout plural of shout

Where the eye mixes shouted and shouts

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. shouted runs 7 letters (CCVVCVC) against shouts's 6 (CCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
shouted
6 ch
shouts

Look-alike desk: shouted vs shouts

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: shouted is /ˈʃaʊtɪd/ while shouts is /ʃaʊts/. 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 24171, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

shouted is recorded at frequency rank #9,955, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈʃaʊtɪd/. shouts is at rank #14,216, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ʃaʊts/.

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 24171, this pair ranks #403,957 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of shouted vs shouts

Shared letters: hostu. Private to "shouted": de. Private to "shouts": -.

"shouted" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC  ·  "shouts" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • shouted ← hsouted · shhouted · shotued · shouetd · shoutde · shoutedd · shoutted · shuoted
  • shouts ← hsouts · shhouts · shotus · shoust · shoutss · shoutts · shuots · sohuts

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "shouted" and "shouts" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "shouted" is a verb and "shouts" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "shouted" or "shouts"?
"shouted" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,955 in our English list, against #14,216 for "shouts". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "shouted" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "shouts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #403,957 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "shouted" and "shouts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "shouts vs shoves". 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 #403,957 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