Which to use
“write” and “wrote” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,008
- “write” frequency rank
- #984
- “wrote” frequency rank
- 1992
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | write | wrote |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To form letters, words or symbols on a surface in order to communicate. | simple past of write |
Where the eye mixes write and wrote
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses write with wrote
A purely visual mix-up. write (/ɹaɪt/) and wrote (/ɹəʊt/) 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 a single letter - i in “write” becomes o in “wrote”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1992, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
write is recorded at frequency rank #1,008, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹaɪt/. wrote is at rank #984, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹəʊt/.
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 1992, this pair ranks #526,114 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of write vs wrote
Shared letters: ertw. Private to "write": i. Private to "wrote": o.
"write" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "wrote" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "write" and "wrote" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "write" vs "wrote" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "write" and "wrote" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "write" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wrote" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #526,114 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "write" and "wrote" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wove vs wrote". 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 #526,114 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.