keyvskunTell them apart

Which to use

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

#18,292
“key” frequency rank
#17,465
“kun” frequency rank
35757
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature key kun
Definition Llave. Aceite de animal.

Where the eye mixes key and kun

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

3 ch
key
3 ch
kun

Why the eye confuses key with kun

A purely visual mix-up. key ([kiː]) and kun ([kun]) 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 35757, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

key is recorded at frequency rank #18,292, classified as anoun, pronounced [kiː]. kun is at rank #17,465, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kun].

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 35757, this pair ranks #184,353 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of key vs kun

Shared letters: k. Private to "key": ey. Private to "kun": nu.

"key" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "kun" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "key" and "kun" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kiː] versus [kun]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "key" or "kun"?
"kun" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,465 in our Spanish list, against #18,292 for "key". 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 "key" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #184,353 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "key" and "kun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kano vs kun". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #184,353 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