Which to use
“walk” and “walked” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #891
- “walk” frequency rank
- #2,187
- “walked” frequency rank
- 3078
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | walk | walked |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To move on the feet by alternately setting each foot (or pair or group of feet, in the case of animals with four or more feet) forward, with at least one foot on the ground at all times. Compare run. | simple past and past participle of walk |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set walk and walked apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
walk and walked form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “walk” sits inside “walked” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3078, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
walk is recorded at frequency rank #891, classified as averb, pronounced /wɔːk/. walked is at rank #2,187, tagged as averb, pronounced /wɔːkt/.
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 3078, this pair ranks #523,173 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "walk" and "walked" be used interchangeably?
Remembering walk vs walked
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “walk” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable