askvsasmaConfusable pair

Quick tell: ask is a verb, asma is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#11,211
“ask” frequency rank
#15,737
“asma” frequency rank
26948
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ask asma
Definition perguntar doença inflamatória crônica caracterizada por obstrução ao fluxo de ar nas vias respiratórias, cuja causa não está completamente elucidada

Letter map: ask vs asma

Shared letters muted; letters that set ask and asma apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

3 ch
ask
4 ch
asma

Role in the sentence - ask and asma

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ask is averb and asmaanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26948, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ask is recorded at frequency rank #11,211, classified as averb, pronounced /ɑːsk/, /æsk/. asma is at rank #15,737, tagged as anoun.

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 26948, this pair ranks #42,102 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ask vs asma

Shared letters: as. Private to "ask": k. Private to "asma": m.

"ask" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "asma" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • asmaasam · asmma · assma

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ask" and "asma" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ask" is a verb and "asma" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "ask" vs "asma" - which ranks higher?
"ask" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,211 in our Portuguese list, against #15,737 for "asma". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "ask" and "asma".

  • Full dictionary entry for "ask" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "asma" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #42,102 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ask" and "asma" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ASC vs asma". 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 #42,102 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