ape vs ask, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“ape” is a noun and “ask” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,095
“ape” frequency rank: #11,211
“ask” frequency rank: 39306
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ape	ask
Definition	comida para cavalos	perguntar

Where the eye mixes ape and ask

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch

ape

3 ch

ask

Visual trap between ape and ask

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ape is /ˈɑ.pe/ while ask is /ɑːsk/, /æsk/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39306, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ape is recorded at frequency rank #28,095, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɑ.pe/. ask is at rank #11,211, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɑːsk/, /æsk/.

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 39306, this pair ranks #26,983 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ape vs ask

Shared letters: a. Private to "ape": ep. Private to "ask": ks.

"ape" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "ask" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ape" and "ask" mean the same thing in a sentence?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ape" is a noun and "ask" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Frequency check: "ape" vs "ask" - which ranks higher?

"ask" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,211 in our Portuguese list, against #28,095 for "ape". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "ape" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "ask" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #26,983 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"ape" and "ask" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acs vs ape". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #26,983 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.