apevsaveWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#45,736
“ape” frequency rank
#5,694
“ave” frequency rank
51430
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ape ave
Definition Espalda. Animal vertebrado, ovíparo, de respiración pulmonar y sangre de temperatura constante, pico córneo, cuerpo cubierto de plumas, con dos patas y dos alas aptas por lo común para el vuelo. En el estado embrionario tiene amnios y alantoides

Where the eye mixes ape and ave

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
ape
3 ch
ave

Look-alike desk: ape vs ave

A purely visual mix-up. ape ([aˈpe]) and ave ([ˈaβ̞e]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - p in “ape” becomes v in “ave”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51430, 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]. ave is at rank #5,694, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈaβ̞e].

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 51430, this pair ranks #97,937 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ape vs ave

Shared letters: ae. Private to "ape": p. Private to "ave": v.

"ape" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "ave" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ape" and "ave" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([aˈpe] versus [ˈaβ̞e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ape" or "ave"?
"ave" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,694 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

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ape" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ave" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #97,937 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ape" and "ave" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ape vs apis". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #97,937 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