Which to use
“ek” and “er” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,574
- “ek” frequency rank
- #10,335
- “er” frequency rank
- 47909
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ek | er |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Yo. | Él. |
Where the eye mixes ek and er
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ek with er
A purely visual mix-up. ek ([ɛk]) and er ([ˈeːɐ̯]) 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 - k in “ek” becomes r in “er”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47909, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ek is recorded at frequency rank #37,574, classified as apron, pronounced [ɛk]. er is at rank #10,335, tagged as apron, pronounced [ˈeːɐ̯].
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 47909, this pair ranks #117,416 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ek vs er
Shared letters: e. Private to "ek": k. Private to "er": r.
"ek" · 2 letters · shape VC · "er" · 2 letters · shape VC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ek" and "er" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "ek" vs "er" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ek" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "er" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #117,416 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ek" and "er" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ek vs EPL". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #117,416 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.