key vs ki, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“key” is an adjective and “ki” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,384
“key” frequency rank: #10,029
“ki” frequency rank: 20413
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	key	ki
Definition	indispensável	cão (mamífero domesticado - Canis lupus familiaris)

Same sound, different letters: key vs ki

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 1 letter.

3 ch

key

2 ch

Same sound, different spelling - key / ki

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: key and ki carry the same recorded pronunciation, /kiː/. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20413, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

key is recorded at frequency rank #10,384, classified as anadj, pronounced /kiː/. ki is at rank #10,029, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkiː/.

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 20413, this pair ranks #50,121 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of key vs ki

Shared letters: k. Private to "key": ey. Private to "ki": i.

"key" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "ki" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "key" and "ki" mean the same thing in a sentence?

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

Which is more common, "key" or "ki"?

"ki" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,029 in our Portuguese list, against #10,384 for "key". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

"key" and "ki" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.

Full dictionary entry for "key" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "ki" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #50,121 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"key" and "ki" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kari vs ki". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #50,121 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.