ake vs alm, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“ake” is a verb and “alm” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#46,292
“ake” frequency rank: #43,024
“alm” frequency rank: 89316
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ake	alm
Definition	Obsolete spelling of ache.	Something given to the poor as charity: a singular gift of alms.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ake and alm apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

ake

3 ch

alm

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ake is /eɪk/ while alm is /ɑːm/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 89316, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ake is recorded at frequency rank #46,292, classified as averb, pronounced /eɪk/. alm is at rank #43,024, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɑːm/.

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 89316, this pair ranks #5,324 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ake vs alm

Shared letters: a. Private to "ake": ek. Private to "alm": lm.

"ake" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "alm" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Frequency comparison

ake#46,292

alm#43,024

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ake" and "alm" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ake" is a verb and "alm" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "ake" or "alm"?

"alm" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #43,024 in our English list, against #46,292 for "ake". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ake vs alm

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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