Which to use
“kept” is a verb and “ker” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,086
- “kept” frequency rank
- #38,929
- “ker” frequency rank
- 40015
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kept | ker |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of keep | A chief of the Luo people. |
Letter map: kept vs ker
Shared letters muted; letters that set kept and ker apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Role in the sentence - kept and ker
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: kept is averb and keranoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40015, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kept is recorded at frequency rank #1,086, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈkɛpt/. ker is at rank #38,929, tagged as anoun.
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 40015, this pair ranks #271,431 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of kept vs ker
Shared letters: ek. Private to "kept": pt. Private to "ker": r.
"kept" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "ker" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- kept ← ekpt · keppt · keptt · ketp · kkept · kpet
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "kept" for "ker" ever safe?
Frequency check: "kept" vs "ker" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
You've compared "kept" and "ker". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "kept" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ker" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #271,431 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kept" and "ker" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ker vs Kop". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #271,431 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.