Which to use
“exam” is a noun and “ext” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #28,546
- “exam” frequency rank
- #36,838
- “ext” frequency rank
- 65384
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | exam | ext |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Examen (dans le sens lié aux études universitaires). | Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’impératif présent de exen. |
Where the eye mixes exam and ext
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between exam and ext
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: exam is \ɛɡ.zam\ while ext is \ɛkst\. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65384, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
exam is recorded at frequency rank #28,546, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛɡ.zam\. ext is at rank #36,838, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛkst\.
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 65384, this pair ranks #72,621 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of exam vs ext
Shared letters: ex. Private to "exam": am. Private to "ext": t.
"exam" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "ext" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- exam ← eaxm · examm · exma · exxam · xeam
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "exam" and "ext" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "exam" or "ext"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "exam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ext" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #72,621 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "exam" and "ext" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "émit vs ext". 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 #72,621 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.