Which to use
“aiming” is a verb and “among” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,383
- “aiming” frequency rank
- #486
- “among” frequency rank
- 8869
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aiming | among |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of aim | Of a person or thing: in the midst of and surrounded by (other people or things). |
Where the eye mixes aiming and among
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between aiming and among
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aiming is /ˈeɪ.mɪŋ/ while among is /əˈmʌŋ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8869, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
aiming is recorded at frequency rank #8,383, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈeɪ.mɪŋ/. among is at rank #486, tagged as aprep, pronounced /əˈmʌŋ/.
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 8869, this pair ranks #500,292 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of aiming vs among
Shared letters: agmn. Private to "aiming": i. Private to "among": o.
"aiming" · 6 letters · shape VVCVCC · "among" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "aiming" and "among" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "aiming" or "among"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "aiming" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "among" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #500,292 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aiming" and "among" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aiming vs awning". 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 #500,292 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.