Which to use
“east” and “ems” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,209
- “east” frequency rank
- #35,925
- “ems” frequency rank
- 47134
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | east | ems |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Est. | Pluriel de em. |
Where the eye mixes east and ems
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. east runs 4 letters (VVCC) against ems's 3 (VCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: east vs ems
A purely visual mix-up. east (\ˈist\) and ems (\ɛm\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47134, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
east is recorded at frequency rank #11,209, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈist\. ems is at rank #35,925, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛm\.
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 47134, this pair ranks #189,292 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of east vs ems
Shared letters: es. Private to "east": at. Private to "ems": m.
"east" · 4 letters · shape VVCC · "ems" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- east ← aest · easst · eastt · eats · esat
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "east" and "ems" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "east" vs "ems" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "east" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ems" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #189,292 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "east" and "ems" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "émit vs ems". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #189,292 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.