Which to use
“tried” and “true” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #724
- “tried” frequency rank
- #393
- “true” frequency rank
- 1117
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tried | true |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tested, hence, proven to be firm or reliable. | Conforming to the actual state of reality or fact; factually correct. |
Where the eye mixes tried and true
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. tried (/tɹaɪd/) and true (/tɹuː/) 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 1117, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tried is recorded at frequency rank #724, classified as anadj, pronounced /tɹaɪd/. true is at rank #393, tagged as anadj, pronounced /tɹuː/.
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 1117, this pair ranks #528,059 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tried vs true
Shared letters: ert. Private to "tried": di. Private to "true": u.
"tried" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "true" · 4 letters · shape CCVV