asking
/ˈæskɪŋ/
"asking" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“asking” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,158 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #1,158
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 15
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - present participle of ask
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | asking |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈæskɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #1,158 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 15 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “asking” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for asking is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈæskɪŋ/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,158 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "present participle of ask".
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for asking, with forms such as "aksing", "asikng", and "askign". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 15 confusable-pair relationships, "Atkins", "awning", "akin", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English askinge, askande, from Old English āsciende, from Proto-West Germanic *aiskōndī, present participle of Proto-West Germanic *aiskōn (“to ask”), equivalent to ask + -ing. The correct English form is asking, spelled A-S-K-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1present participle of ask
Etymology
From Middle English askinge, askande, from Old English āsciende, from Proto-West Germanic *aiskōndī, present participle of Proto-West Germanic *aiskōn (“to ask”), equivalent to ask + -ing.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: aksing,asikng,askign,askingg,askinng,askking,asknig,assking,saking
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of asking - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “asking”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-S-K-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈæskɪŋ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Atkins” - see the side-by-side comparison. asking vs Atkins
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.