Which to use
“tuned” and “turned” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,735
- “tuned” frequency rank
- #859
- “turned” frequency rank
- 9594
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tuned | turned |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of tune | simple past and past participle of turn |
Where the eye mixes tuned and turned
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses tuned with turned
A purely visual mix-up. tuned (/tjuːnd/) and turned (/tɜːnd/) 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 9594, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tuned is recorded at frequency rank #8,735, classified as averb, pronounced /tjuːnd/. turned is at rank #859, tagged as averb, pronounced /tɜːnd/.
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 9594, this pair ranks #496,597 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tuned vs turned
Shared letters: dentu. Private to "tuned": -. Private to "turned": r.
"tuned" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "turned" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tuned" for "turned" ever safe?
Which is more common, "tuned" or "turned"?
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 "tuned" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "turned" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #496,597 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tuned" and "turned" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tugged vs tuned". 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 #496,597 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.