sifted vs soften, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“sifted” is an adjective and “soften” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#49,049
“sifted” frequency rank: #18,188
“soften” frequency rank: 67237
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	sifted	soften
Definition	Having undergone sifting.	To make something soft or softer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sifted and soften apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

sifted

6 ch

soften

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: sifted is anadjective and softenaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67237, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sifted is recorded at frequency rank #49,049, classified as anadj. soften is at rank #18,188, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈsɒfən/.

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 67237, this pair ranks #64,280 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sifted vs soften

Shared letters: efst. Private to "sifted": di. Private to "soften": no.

"sifted" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "soften" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

sifted ← isfted · sfited · sifetd · siffted · siftde · siftedd · siftted · sitfed
soften ← osften · sfoten · sofetn · sofften · softenn · softne · softten · sotfen

Frequency comparison

sifted#49,049

soften#18,188

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sifted" and "soften" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sifted" is an adjective and "soften" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "sifted" or "soften"?

"soften" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,188 in our English list, against #49,049 for "sifted". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering sifted vs soften

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “sifted”; for a verb, it's “soften”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sifted” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable