reading
/ˈɹiːdɪŋ/
"reading" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“reading” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #753 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #753
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - present participle and gerund of read
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 | reading |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈɹiːdɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #753 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “reading” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for reading is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɹiːdɪŋ/. Corpus data places it at rank #753 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "present participle and gerund of read".
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for reading, with forms such as "erading", "raeding", and "readding". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "riding", "resting", "renting", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English reding, redyng, redand, from Old English rǣdende, present participle of rǣdan (“to read”), equivalent to read + -ing. The correct English form is reading, spelled R-E-A-D-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1present participle and gerund of read
Etymology
From Middle English reding, redyng, redand, from Old English rǣdende, present participle of rǣdan (“to read”), equivalent to read + -ing.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: erading,raeding,readding,readign,readingg,readinng,readnig,reaidng,redaing,rreading
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of reading - 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
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Using “reading”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-E-A-D-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɹiːdɪŋ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “riding” - see the side-by-side comparison. reading vs riding
- 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.