emevsemiWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: eme is a noun, emi is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“eme” is a noun and “emi” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#40,276
“eme” frequency rank
#22,675
“emi” frequency rank
62951
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature eme emi
Definition Nombre de la letra m. Primera persona del singular del perfecto activo de indicativo de emō.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set eme and emi apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
eme
3 ch
emi

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: eme is [ˈeme] while emi is [ˈeː.miː]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “eme” becomes i in “emi”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62951, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

eme is recorded at frequency rank #40,276, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈeme]. emi is at rank #22,675, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈeː.miː].

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 62951, this pair ranks #50,312 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of eme vs emi

Shared letters: em. Private to "eme": -. Private to "emi": i.

"eme" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "emi" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequency comparison

eme#40,276
emi#22,675

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "eme" and "emi" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "eme" is a noun and "emi" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "eme" or "emi"?
"emi" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,675 in our Spanish list, against #40,276 for "eme". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering eme vs emi

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “eme”; for a verb, it's “emi”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “eme” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list