api vs ay, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“api” and “ay” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#20,828
“api” frequency rank: #30,936
“ay” frequency rank: 51764
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	api	ay
Definition	Feuer; Hitze und Licht, das von etwas ausgeht, das brennt	Himmelskörper, der einen Planeten umkreist; Mond

Letter map: api vs ay

Shared letters muted; letters that set api and ay apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch

api

2 ch

Spelling & dictionary notes on api vs ay

api and ay are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51764, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

api is recorded at frequency rank #20,828, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. ay is at rank #30,936, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɑj].

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 51764, this pair ranks #1,122,921 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of api vs ay

Shared letters: a. Private to "api": ip. Private to "ay": y.

"api" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "ay" · 2 letters · shape VV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "api" for "ay" ever safe?

No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.

In ordinary German text, does "api" or "ay" show up more?

"api" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,828 in our German list, against #30,936 for "ay". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "api" vs "ay" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

Full dictionary entry for "api" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "ay" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #1,122,921 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"api" and "ay" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "AUD vs ay". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,122,921 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.