emavsergConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#32,373
“ema” frequency rank
#48,222
“erg” frequency rank
80595
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ema erg
Definition A wooden plaque bearing a prayer or wish, left hanging at a Shinto shrine. A unit of work or energy, being the amount of work done by a force of one dyne applied through a distance of one centimeter. Equal to 10⁻⁷ joules.

Letter map: ema vs erg

Shared letters muted; letters that set ema and erg apart highlighted. Shared run: 1. ema (VCV) and erg (VCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
ema
3 ch
erg

Corpus notes: ema and erg

ema and erg are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80595, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ema is recorded at frequency rank #32,373, classified as anoun. erg is at rank #48,222, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɜːɡ/.

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 80595, this pair ranks #19,479 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ema vs erg

Shared letters: e. Private to "ema": am. Private to "erg": gr.

"ema" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "erg" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ema" and "erg" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "ema" vs "erg" - which ranks higher?
"ema" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,373 in our English list, against #48,222 for "erg". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

You've compared "ema" and "erg". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ema" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erg" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #19,479 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ema" and "erg" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erg vs Eri". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #19,479 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list