Which to use
“sped” is a verb and “SPS” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,782
- “sped” frequency rank
- #34,299
- “SPS” frequency rank
- 55081
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sped | SPS |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of speed | Initialism of supplementary policy statement. |
Letter map: sped vs SPS
Shared letters muted; letters that set sped and SPS apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Grammar separator: sped vs SPS
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: sped is averb and SPSanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55081, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sped is recorded at frequency rank #20,782, classified as averb, pronounced /spɛd/. SPS is at rank #34,299, tagged as anoun.
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 55081, this pair ranks #136,300 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sped vs SPS
Shared letters: ps. Private to "sped": de. Private to "SPS": -.
"sped" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "SPS" · 3 letters · shape CCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- sped ← psed · sepd · spde · spedd · spped · ssped
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sped" for "SPS" ever safe?
Frequency check: "sped" vs "SPS" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pair "sped" vs "SPS" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "sped" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "SPS" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #136,300 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sped" and "SPS" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "SPS vs suds". 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 #136,300 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.