ke vs ky, What's the Difference?

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 spellings diverge

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

2 ch

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

Frequency comparison

ke#14,717

ky#49,758

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ke" and "ky" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ke" is a verb and "ky" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "ke" or "ky"?

"ke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,717 in our French list, against #49,758 for "ky". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ke vs ky

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “ke”; for an adjective, it's “ky”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ke” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable