eachvseastWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: each is a determiner, east is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“each” is a determiner and “east” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#191
“each” frequency rank
#709
“east” frequency rank
900
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature each east
Definition All; every; qualifying a singular noun, indicating all examples of the thing so named seen as individual or separate items (compare every). The direction of the earth's rotation, specifically 90°.

Where the eye mixes each and east

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

4 ch
each
4 ch
east

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: each is /iːt͡ʃ/ while east is /iːst/. 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 (determiner vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 900, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

each is recorded at frequency rank #191, classified as adet, pronounced /iːt͡ʃ/. east is at rank #709, tagged as anoun, pronounced /iːst/.

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 900, this pair ranks #528,539 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of each vs east

Shared letters: ae. Private to "each": ch. Private to "east": st.

"each" · 4 letters · shape VVCC  ·  "east" · 4 letters · shape VVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • eachaech · eacch · eachh · eahc · ecah
  • eastaest · easst · eastt · esat

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "each" and "east" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "each" is a determiner and "east" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "each" or "east"?
"each" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #191 in our English list, against #709 for "east". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list