akevsasksWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“ake” and “asks” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#46,292
“ake” frequency rank
#3,348
“asks” frequency rank
49640
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ake asks
Definition Obsolete spelling of ache. third-person singular simple present indicative of ask

Where the eye mixes ake and asks

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
ake
4 ch
asks

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ake (/eɪk/) and asks (/ɑːsks/) 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 49640, 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/. asks is at rank #3,348, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɑːsks/.

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 49640, this pair ranks #181,746 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ake vs asks

Shared letters: ak. Private to "ake": e. Private to "asks": s.

"ake" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "asks" · 4 letters · shape VCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • asksakss · askks · askss · assk · assks · saks

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ake" and "asks" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/eɪk/ versus /ɑːsks/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ake" or "asks"?
"asks" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,348 in our English list, against #46,292 for "ake". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list