started
[ˈstɑɹɾɪd]
"started" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“started” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #405 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #405
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - simple past and past participle of start
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 | started |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [ˈstɑɹɾɪd] |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #405 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “started” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for started is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈstɑɹɾɪd]. Corpus data places it at rank #405 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "simple past and past participle of start".
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for started, with forms such as "satrted", "sstarted", and "staretd". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "state", "states", "stated", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is started, spelled S-T-A-R-T-E-D.
Definition
- 1simple past and past participle of start
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: satrted,sstarted,staretd,starrted,startde,startedd,startted,statred,strated,sttarted,tsarted
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of started - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 “started”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-T-A-R-T-E-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈstɑɹɾɪd] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “state” - see the side-by-side comparison. started vs state
- 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.