Which to use
“taken” and “taking” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #474
- “taken” frequency rank
- #406
- “taking” frequency rank
- 880
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | taken | taking |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Infatuated; fond of or attracted to. | Alluring; attractive. |
Where the eye mixes taken and taking
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. taken (/ˈteɪ.kn̩/) and taking (/ˈteɪkɪŋ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 880, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
taken is recorded at frequency rank #474, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈteɪ.kn̩/. taking is at rank #406, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈteɪkɪŋ/.
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 880, this pair ranks #528,576 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of taken vs taking
Shared letters: aknt. Private to "taken": e. Private to "taking": gi.
"taken" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "taking" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC