qua vs quasi, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“qua” is a preposition and “quasi” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#27,899
“qua” frequency rank: #2,738
“quasi” frequency rank: 30637
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	qua	quasi
Definition	mit Hilfe von	gleichsam, sozusagen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set qua and quasi apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

qua

5 ch

quasi

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: qua is [kvaː] while quasi is [ˈkvaːzi]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “qua” sits inside “quasi”, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30637, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

qua is recorded at frequency rank #27,899, classified as aprep, pronounced [kvaː]. quasi is at rank #2,738, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ˈkvaːzi].

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 30637, this pair ranks #1,743,974 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of qua vs quasi

Shared letters: aqu. Private to "qua": -. Private to "quasi": is.

"qua" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "quasi" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

quasi ← qausi · qquasi · quais · quassi · qusai · uqasi

Frequency comparison

qua#27,899

quasi#2,738

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "qua" and "quasi" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "qua" is a preposition and "quasi" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "qua" or "quasi"?

"quasi" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,738 in our German list, against #27,899 for "qua". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering qua vs quasi

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a preposition, it's “qua”; for an adverb, it's “quasi”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “qua” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable