Which to use
“ke” is a verb and “ky” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,717
- “ke” frequency rank
- #49,758
- “ky” frequency rank
- 64475
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ke | ky |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent du verbe kam. | Ce, ce ... -ci. |
Where the eye mixes ke and ky
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. ke and ky follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses ke with ky
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ke is \ˈke\ while ky is \ky\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “ke” becomes y in “ky”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64475, 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\. ky is at rank #49,758, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ky\.
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 64475, this pair ranks #76,901 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ke vs ky
Shared letters: k. Private to "ke": e. Private to "ky": y.
"ke" · 2 letters · shape CV · "ky" · 2 letters · shape CV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ke" for "ky" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "ke" or "ky" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ky" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #76,901 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ke" and "ky" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kgs vs ky". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #76,901 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.