arivsateWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#18,154
“ari” frequency rank
#23,677
“ate” frequency rank
41831
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ari ate
Definition (familia Ursidae) Oso. Dulce de membrillo en forma de barra o bloque a modo de dulce seco.

Where the eye mixes ari and ate

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
ari
3 ch
ate

Look-alike desk: ari vs ate

A purely visual mix-up. ari ([aˈɾi]) and ate ([ˈat̪e]) 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 41831, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ari is recorded at frequency rank #18,154, classified as anoun, pronounced [aˈɾi]. ate is at rank #23,677, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈat̪e].

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 41831, this pair ranks #151,548 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ari vs ate

Shared letters: a. Private to "ari": ir. Private to "ate": et.

"ari" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "ate" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ari" and "ate" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aˈɾi] versus [ˈat̪e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "ari" or "ate" show up more?
"ari" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,154 in our Spanish list, against #23,677 for "ate". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "ari" and "ate" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ari" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ate" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #151,548 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ari" and "ate" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anta vs ate". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #151,548 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