Which to use
“undertaken” is a verb and “undertaking” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,001
- “undertaken” frequency rank
- #10,957
- “undertaking” frequency rank
- 19958
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | undertaken | undertaking |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | past participle of undertake | The business of an undertaker, or the management of funerals. |
Where the eye mixes undertaken and undertaking
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. undertaken runs 10 letters (VCCVCCVCVC) against undertaking's 11 (VCCVCCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between undertaken and undertaking
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: undertaken is /ʌndə(ɹ)ˈteɪkən/ while undertaking is /ˈʌndə(ɹ)ˌteɪkɪŋ/. 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 19958, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
undertaken is recorded at frequency rank #9,001, classified as averb, pronounced /ʌndə(ɹ)ˈteɪkən/. undertaking is at rank #10,957, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈʌndə(ɹ)ˌteɪkɪŋ/.
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 19958, this pair ranks #434,513 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of undertaken vs undertaking
Shared letters: adeknrtu. Private to "undertaken": -. Private to "undertaking": gi.
"undertaken" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC · "undertaking" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- undertaken ← nudertaken · udnertaken · unddertaken · underatken · underrtaken · undertaekn · undertakenn · undertakken
- undertaking ← nudertaking · udnertaking · unddertaking · underatking · underrtaking · undertaikng · undertakign · undertakingg
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "undertaken" and "undertaking" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "undertaken" or "undertaking"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "undertaken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "undertaking" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #434,513 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "undertaken" and "undertaking" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "undertaken vs undertaker". 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 #434,513 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.