totalled vs totally, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“totalled” is an adjective and “totally” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,262
“totalled” frequency rank: #1,583
“totally” frequency rank: 31845
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	totalled	totally
Definition	Destroyed	To the fullest extent or degree.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set totalled and totally apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch

totalled

7 ch

totally

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: totalled is anadjective and totallyanadverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31845, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

totalled is recorded at frequency rank #30,262, classified as anadj. totally is at rank #1,583, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈtəʊ.tə.li/.

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 31845, this pair ranks #342,742 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of totalled vs totally

Shared letters: alot. Private to "totalled": de. Private to "totally": y.

"totalled" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "totally" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

totalled ← ottalled · toatlled · totaled · totaleld · totallde · totalledd · totlaled · tottalled
totally ← ottally · toatlly · totallyy · totaly · totalyl · totlaly · tottally · ttoally

Frequency comparison

totalled#30,262

totally#1,583

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "totalled" and "totally" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "totalled" is an adjective and "totally" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "totalled" or "totally"?

"totally" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,583 in our English list, against #30,262 for "totalled". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering totalled vs totally

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “totalled”; for an adverb, it's “totally”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “totalled” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable