kervskeysWhat's the difference?

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

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ker and keys apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
ker
4 ch
keys

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

  • keysekys · kesy · keyss · keyys · kkeys · kyes

Frequency comparison

ker#38,929
keys#3,699

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ker" and "keys" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "ker" or "keys"?
"keys" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,699 in our English list, against #38,929 for "ker". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering ker vs keys

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ker” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list