taskedvstasksWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tasked is a verb, tasks is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tasked” is a verb and “tasks” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,435
“tasked” frequency rank
#4,904
“tasks” frequency rank
19339
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tasked tasks
Definition simple past and past participle of task plural of task

Where the eye mixes tasked and tasks

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

6 ch
tasked
5 ch
tasks

Look-alike desk: tasked vs tasks

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tasked is /tæskt/ while tasks is /tɑːsks/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19339, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tasked is recorded at frequency rank #14,435, classified as averb, pronounced /tæskt/. tasks is at rank #4,904, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tɑːsks/.

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 19339, this pair ranks #438,868 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tasked vs tasks

Shared letters: akst. Private to "tasked": de. Private to "tasks": -.

"tasked" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "tasks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • taskedatsked · taksed · tasekd · taskde · taskedd · taskked · tassked · tsaked
  • tasksatsks · takss · taskks · taskss · tassks · tsaks · ttasks

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tasked" and "tasks" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tasked" is a verb and "tasks" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "tasked" vs "tasks" - which ranks higher?
"tasks" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,904 in our English list, against #14,435 for "tasked". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tasked" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tasks" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #438,868 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tasked" and "tasks" 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 #438,868 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