kevskmWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ke is a verb, km is a symbol, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ke” is a verb and “km” is a symbol - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,717
“ke” frequency rank
#1,030
“km” frequency rank
15747
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ke km
Definition Deuxième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent du verbe kam. Symbole du kilomètre, unité de mesure de longueur du Système international (SI), valant 1000 mètres (10³ mètres).

Letter map: ke vs km

Shared letters muted; letters that set ke and km apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

2 ch
ke
2 ch
km

Grammar separator: ke vs km

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ke is averb and kmasymbol. On the page they differ by a single letter - e in “ke” becomes m in “km”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15747, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ke is recorded at frequency rank #14,717, classified as averb, pronounced \ˈke\. km is at rank #1,030, tagged as asymbol.

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 15747, this pair ranks #390,999 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ke vs km

Shared letters: k. Private to "ke": e. Private to "km": m.

"ke" · 2 letters · shape CV  ·  "km" · 2 letters · shape CC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ke" and "km" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ke" is a verb and "km" a symbol, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ke" or "km"?
"km" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,030 in our French list, against #14,717 for "ke". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "ke" and "km".

  • Full dictionary entry for "ke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "km" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #390,999 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ke" and "km" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ke vs ky". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #390,999 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list