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Should I say “Your order is now complete” or “Your order is now completed”?

What is better, "complete" or "completed"?

I want to know which sounds the most encouraging. Which of these two promotes more of an elation or satisfaction of accomplishment.

Personally I'm leaning towards "completed" as the "d" suffix bring a more substantial and abrupt ending, which to me more clearly signifies the significance of the accomplished item.

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marked as duplicate by F'x, Marthaª, kiamlaluno, Mr. Shiny and New 安宇, Cerberus Mar 7 '11 at 20:40


I saw that, but do not feel it applies as this is more of an abstracted discussion untethered to usage. –  Kirk Strobeck Mar 7 '11 at 15:35
Can we have a look at the use case in question? –  RegDwigнt Mar 7 '11 at 16:15
Think "to-do list," but there really is no use-case –  Kirk Strobeck Mar 7 '11 at 16:55
I'm confused: if there is no use case, then what is the question referring to when it says "In this use-case"? –  Marthaª Mar 7 '11 at 17:23
To reply to this question, I would say exactly what I have already said in reply to another question. –  kiamlaluno Mar 7 '11 at 17:27

2 Answers 2

up vote 8 down vote accepted

Complete, unlike completed, implies something whole or full. Completed means finished, accomplished, or done.

A lot of the meaning overlaps, but I think completed gives a better sense of accomplishment, though it really depends on how you're using it.

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+1 Some examples, using 'complete' and 'completed' as adjectives: A complete book is one that is not missing any pages. A completed book is one that an author has finished writing. A complete job assignment includes a full set of instructions and a due date. A completed job assignment results in payment for services rendered. –  oosterwal Mar 7 '11 at 18:59

"Complete" indicates a thing that has been finished. "Completed" is a past-tense verb form, and while by itself means much the same thing as "complete", it has the additional implication of something that has been finished, and as a consequence, the word has additional implications of the process that completed the thing. I would go with "completed".

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