Which to use
“ache” is a noun and “age” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,947
- “ache” frequency rank
- #4,692
- “age” frequency rank
- 14639
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ache | age |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | dor, axe | envelhecer |
Letter map: ache vs age
Shared letters muted; letters that set ache and age apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Part-of-speech tell for ache / age
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ache is anoun and ageaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14639, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ache is recorded at frequency rank #9,947, classified as anoun, pronounced /eɪk/. age is at rank #4,692, tagged as averb.
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 14639, this pair ranks #57,383 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ache vs age
Shared letters: ae. Private to "ache": ch. Private to "age": g.
"ache" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "age" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- ache ← acche · aceh · achhe · ahce · cahe
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ache" for "age" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ache" vs "age" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pair "ache" vs "age" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "ache" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "age" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #57,383 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ache" and "age" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ache vs acs". 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 #57,383 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.