blakevsblankWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: blake is a verb, blank is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“blake” is a verb and “blank” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,939
“blake” frequency rank
#12,878
“blank” frequency rank
29817
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature blake blank
Definition 3. Person Singular Konjunktiv I Präsens Aktiv des Verbs blaken (metallisch) hell schimmernd

Where the eye mixes blake and blank

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
blake
5 ch
blank

Look-alike desk: blake vs blank

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: blake is [ˈblaːkə] while blank is [blaŋk]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29817, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

blake is recorded at frequency rank #16,939, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈblaːkə]. blank is at rank #12,878, tagged as anadj, pronounced [blaŋk].

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 29817, this pair ranks #1,759,716 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of blake vs blank

Shared letters: abkl. Private to "blake": e. Private to "blank": n.

"blake" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "blank" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • blakebalke · bblake · blaek · blakke · blkae · bllake · lbake
  • blankbalnk · bblank · blakn · blankk · blannk · bllank · blnak · lbank

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "blake" for "blank" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "blake" is a verb and "blank" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "blake" or "blank"?
"blank" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,878 in our German list, against #16,939 for "blake". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "blake" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "blank" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,759,716 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "blake" and "blank" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "blanca vs blank". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,759,716 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list