eggvsekTell them apart

Quick tell: egg is a verb, ek is a preposition, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“egg” is a verb and “ek” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,614
“egg” frequency rank
#23,492
“ek” frequency rank
52106
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature egg ek
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs eggen aus einem Gebiet oder Raum heraus/hinaus

Same sound, different letters: egg vs ek

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 1 letter.

3 ch
egg
2 ch
ek

Ear matches; page differs - egg and ek

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: egg and ek carry the same recorded pronunciation, [ɛk]. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other apreposition, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52106, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

egg is recorded at frequency rank #28,614, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛk]. ek is at rank #23,492, tagged as aprep, pronounced [ɛk].

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 52106, this pair ranks #1,109,739 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of egg vs ek

Shared letters: e. Private to "egg": g. Private to "ek": k.

"egg" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "ek" · 2 letters · shape VC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "egg" and "ek" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "egg" is a verb and "ek" a preposition, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "egg" vs "ek" - which ranks higher?
"ek" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,492 in our German list, against #28,614 for "egg". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've separated the homophone pair "egg" / "ek". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.

  • Full dictionary entry for "egg" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ek" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,109,739 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "egg" and "ek" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "egg vs eo". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,109,739 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