Which to use
“ker” and “keys” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,929
- “ker” frequency rank
- #3,699
- “keys” frequency rank
- 42628
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ker | keys |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A chief of the Luo people. | plural of key |
Letter map: ker vs keys
Shared letters muted; letters that set ker and keys apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. ker runs 3 letters (CVC) against keys's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Pair insight - ker / keys
ker and keys 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42628, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ker is recorded at frequency rank #38,929, classified as anoun. keys is at rank #3,699, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kiːz/.
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 42628, this pair ranks #247,492 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ker vs keys
Shared letters: ek. Private to "ker": r. Private to "keys": sy.
"ker" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "keys" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- keys ← ekys · kesy · keyss · keyys · kkeys · kyes
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ker" and "keys" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "ker" or "keys" show up more?
After this comparison
Pair "ker" vs "keys" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "ker" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "keys" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #247,492 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ker" and "keys" 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 #247,492 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.