burning
/ˈbɝnɪŋ/
"burning" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“burning” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #2,982 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #2,982
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - present participle and gerund of burn
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | burning |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈbɝnɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #2,982 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “burning” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for burning is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈbɝnɪŋ/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,982 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "present participle and gerund of burn".
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for burning, with forms such as "bburning", "bruning", and "bunring". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "buying", "buzzing", "busting", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: By surface analysis, burn + -ing. The correct English form is burning, spelled B-U-R-N-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1present participle and gerund of burn
Etymology
By surface analysis, burn + -ing.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bburning,bruning,bunring,burinng,burnign,burningg,burninng,burnnig,burnning,burrning,ubrning
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of burning - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "burning"?
What does "burning" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "burning"?
How do you pronounce "burning"?
What is the origin of the word "burning"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “burning”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-U-R-N-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbɝnɪŋ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “buying” - see the side-by-side comparison. burning vs buying
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.