takesvstaskedConfusable pair

Which to use

“takes” and “tasked” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#683
“takes” frequency rank
#14,435
“tasked” frequency rank
15118
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature takes tasked
Definition third-person singular simple present indicative of take simple past and past participle of task

Where the eye mixes takes and tasked

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
takes
6 ch
tasked

Why the eye confuses takes with tasked

A purely visual mix-up. takes (/teɪks/) and tasked (/tæskt/) 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 15118, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

takes is recorded at frequency rank #683, classified as averb, pronounced /teɪks/. tasked is at rank #14,435, tagged as averb, pronounced /tæskt/.

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 15118, this pair ranks #465,946 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of takes vs tasked

Shared letters: aekst. Private to "takes": -. Private to "tasked": d.

"takes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "tasked" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • takesatkes · taeks · takess · takkes · takse · tkaes · ttakes
  • taskedatsked · taksed · tasekd · taskde · taskedd · taskked · tassked · tsaked

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "takes" and "tasked" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/teɪks/ versus /tæskt/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "takes" or "tasked"?
"takes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #683 in our English list, against #14,435 for "tasked". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "takes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tasked" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #465,946 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "takes" and "tasked" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tasked vs tasker". 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 #465,946 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