ekvsemiWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#42,851
“ek” frequency rank
#31,474
“emi” frequency rank
74325
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ek emi
Definition Pronom personnel sujet de la première personne du singulier : je. Avoir envie (de).

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ek and emi apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

2 ch
ek
3 ch
emi

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ek is \ɛk\ while emi is \ˈe.mi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74325, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ek is recorded at frequency rank #42,851, classified as apron, pronounced \ɛk\. emi is at rank #31,474, tagged as averb, pronounced \ˈe.mi\.

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 74325, this pair ranks #37,511 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ek vs emi

Shared letters: e. Private to "ek": k. Private to "emi": im.

"ek" · 2 letters · shape VC  ·  "emi" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequency comparison

ek#42,851
emi#31,474

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ek" and "emi" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ek" is a pronoun and "emi" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ek" or "emi"?
"emi" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,474 in our French list, against #42,851 for "ek". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ek vs emi

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a pronoun, it's “ek”; for a verb, it's “emi”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ek” 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