achvsalcWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“ach” and “alc” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#30,673
“ach” frequency rank
#49,757
“alc” frequency rank
80430
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ach alc
Definition Any of several species of plants, such as smallage, wild celery, parsley. Abbreviation of alcohol.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ach and alc apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
ach
3 ch
alc

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

ach and alc are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80430, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ach is recorded at frequency rank #30,673, classified as anoun, pronounced /æt͡ʃ/. alc is at rank #49,757, 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 80430, this pair ranks #19,812 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ach vs alc

Shared letters: ac. Private to "ach": h. Private to "alc": l.

"ach" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "alc" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Frequency comparison

ach#30,673
alc#49,757

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ach" and "alc" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "ach" or "alc"?
"ach" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,673 in our English list, against #49,757 for "alc". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ach vs alc

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ach” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list