Which to use
“able” is an adjective and “ake” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #352
- “able” frequency rank
- #46,292
- “ake” frequency rank
- 46644
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | able | ake |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Having the necessary powers or the needed resources to accomplish a task. | Obsolete spelling of ache. |
Where the eye mixes able and ake
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: able is /ˈeɪ.bl̩/ while ake is /eɪk/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46644, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
able is recorded at frequency rank #352, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈeɪ.bl̩/. ake is at rank #46,292, tagged as averb, pronounced /eɪk/.
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 46644, this pair ranks #209,802 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of able vs ake
Shared letters: ae. Private to "able": bl. Private to "ake": k.
"able" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "ake" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- able ← abble · ablle · albe · ible