Which to use
“ache” is a verb and “ale” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,397
- “ache” frequency rank
- #11,500
- “ale” frequency rank
- 27897
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ache | ale |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To suffer pain; to be the source of, or be in, pain, especially continued dull pain; to be distressed. | A beer made without hops. |
Where the eye mixes ache and ale
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: ache is /ˈeɪk/ while ale is /eɪl/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27897, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ache is recorded at frequency rank #16,397, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈeɪk/. ale is at rank #11,500, tagged as anoun, pronounced /eɪl/.
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 27897, this pair ranks #375,254 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ache vs ale
Shared letters: ae. Private to "ache": ch. Private to "ale": l.
"ache" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "ale" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- ache ← achhe · ahce · cahe