akevsanteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ake is a verb, ante is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#46,292
“ake” frequency rank
#18,757
“ante” frequency rank
65049
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ake ante
Definition Obsolete spelling of ache. A price or cost, as in up the ante.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ake and ante apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
ake
4 ch
ante

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ake is /eɪk/ while ante is /ˈænti/. 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 65049, 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/. ante is at rank #18,757, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈænti/.

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 65049, this pair ranks #74,667 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ake vs ante

Shared letters: ae. Private to "ake": k. Private to "ante": nt.

"ake" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "ante" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • anteanet · annte · antte · atne

Frequency comparison

ake#46,292
ante#18,757

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ake" and "ante" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ake" is a verb and "ante" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ake" or "ante"?
"ante" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,757 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 ante

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 “ante”.
  • 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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list