Which to use
“emery” is a noun and “every” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,583
- “emery” frequency rank
- #158
- “every” frequency rank
- 19741
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | emery | every |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An impure type of corundum, often used for sanding or polishing. | All of a countable group (considered individually), without exception. |
Where the eye mixes emery and every
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: emery is /ˈɛməɹi/ while every is /ˈɛv.(ə.)ɹi/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - m in “emery” becomes v in “every”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19741, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
emery is recorded at frequency rank #19,583, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɛməɹi/. every is at rank #158, tagged as adet, pronounced /ˈɛv.(ə.)ɹi/.
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 19741, this pair ranks #436,057 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of emery vs every
Shared letters: ery. Private to "emery": m. Private to "every": v.
"emery" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "every" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV