Which to use
“ache” and “ate” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,397
- “ache” frequency rank
- #3,999
- “ate” frequency rank
- 20396
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ache | ate |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To suffer pain; to be the source of, or be in, pain, especially continued dull pain; to be distressed. | simple past of eat |
Where the eye mixes ache and ate
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. ache (/ˈeɪk/) and ate (/eɪt/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20396, 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/. ate is at rank #3,999, tagged as averb, pronounced /eɪt/.
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 20396, this pair ranks #431,372 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ache vs ate
Shared letters: ae. Private to "ache": ch. Private to "ate": t.
"ache" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "ate" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- ache ← achhe · ahce · cahe