Which to use
“sort” is a noun and “sorted” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,098
- “sort” frequency rank
- #9,253
- “sorted” frequency rank
- 10351
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sort | sorted |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A general type. | simple past and past participle of sort |
Where the eye mixes sort and sorted
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: sort vs sorted
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sort is /soɹt/ while sorted is /ˈsɔɹtɪd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “sort” sits inside “sorted”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10351, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sort is recorded at frequency rank #1,098, classified as anoun, pronounced /soɹt/. sorted is at rank #9,253, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈsɔɹtɪd/.
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 10351, this pair ranks #492,769 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sort vs sorted
Shared letters: orst. Private to "sort": -. Private to "sorted": de.
"sort" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "sorted" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sort" for "sorted" ever safe?
Frequency check: "sort" vs "sorted" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "sort" and "sorted" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sort" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sorted" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #492,769 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sort" and "sorted" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "skirted vs sorted". 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 #492,769 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.