eauvsemiWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: eau is a noun, emi is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“eau” is a noun and “emi” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#29,094
“eau” frequency rank
#38,706
“emi” frequency rank
67800
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eau emi
Definition Ansammlung von Wassermolekülen in flüssiger Form: Wasser mögen, Lust haben, im Begriff sein, geeignet sein (zu)

Letter map: eau vs emi

Shared letters muted; letters that set eau and emi apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
eau
3 ch
emi

Grammar separator: eau vs emi

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: eau is anoun and emiaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67800, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eau is recorded at frequency rank #29,094, classified as anoun, pronounced [o]. emi is at rank #38,706, tagged as averb.

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 67800, this pair ranks #528,349 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of eau vs emi

Shared letters: e. Private to "eau": au. Private to "emi": im.

"eau" · 3 letters · shape VVV  ·  "emi" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "eau" for "emi" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "eau" is a noun and "emi" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "eau" or "emi"?
"eau" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,094 in our German list, against #38,706 for "emi". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "eau" and "emi". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "eau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "emi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #528,349 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "eau" and "emi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "emi vs eo". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #528,349 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