apevsausWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“ape” and “aus” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#45,736
“ape” frequency rank
#33,949
“aus” frequency rank
79685
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ape aus
Definition Espalda. Forma del plural de au.

Where the eye mixes ape and aus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. ape (VCV) and aus (VVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
ape
3 ch
aus

Visual trap between ape and aus

A purely visual mix-up. ape ([aˈpe]) and aus ([aws]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79685, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ape is recorded at frequency rank #45,736, classified as anoun, pronounced [aˈpe]. aus is at rank #33,949, tagged as anoun, pronounced [aws].

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 79685, this pair ranks #12,668 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ape vs aus

Shared letters: a. Private to "ape": ep. Private to "aus": su.

"ape" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "aus" · 3 letters · shape VVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ape" and "aus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([aˈpe] versus [aws]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "ape" or "aus" show up more?
"aus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,949 in our Spanish list, against #45,736 for "ape". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ape" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #12,668 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ape" and "aus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ape vs apis". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #12,668 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list