ace vs at, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“ace” and “at” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#16,347
“ace” frequency rank: #1,799
“at” frequency rank: 18146
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ace	at
Definition	Nominativ-Akkusativ Plural des Substantivs ac ohne Artikel	großer Einhufer; Pferd

Where the eye mixes ace and at

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

3 ch

ace

2 ch

Visual trap between ace and at

A purely visual mix-up. ace ([ˈat͡ʃe]) and at ([ɑt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18146, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ace is recorded at frequency rank #16,347, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈat͡ʃe]. at is at rank #1,799, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɑt].

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 18146, this pair ranks #1,920,964 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ace vs at

Shared letters: a. Private to "ace": ce. Private to "at": t.

"ace" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "at" · 2 letters · shape VC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ace" and "at" mean the same thing in a sentence?

No. They are said differently ([ˈat͡ʃe] versus [ɑt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

In ordinary German text, does "ace" or "at" show up more?

"at" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,799 in our German list, against #16,347 for "ace". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

Full dictionary entry for "ace" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "at" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #1,920,964 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"ace" and "at" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ace vs AUD". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,920,964 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.