apevsAssWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“ape” and “Ass” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#28,095
“ape” frequency rank
#15,020
“Ass” frequency rank
43115
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ape Ass
Definition comida para cavalos ás

Where the eye mixes ape and Ass

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

3 ch
ape
3 ch
Ass

Why the eye confuses ape with Ass

A purely visual mix-up. ape (/ˈɑ.pe/) and Ass (/as/ ouvir^(fonte ?)) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43115, 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/. Ass is at rank #15,020, tagged as anoun, pronounced /as/ ouvir^(fonte ?).

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 43115, this pair ranks #22,557 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ape vs Ass

Shared letters: a. Private to "ape": ep. Private to "Ass": s.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ape" and "Ass" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈɑ.pe/ versus /as/ ouvir^(fonte ?)) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ape" vs "Ass" - which ranks higher?
"Ass" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,020 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.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ape" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ass" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #22,557 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ape" and "Ass" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acs vs ape". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #22,557 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list