Which to use
“ala” is a noun and “away” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,261
- “ala” frequency rank
- #214
- “away” frequency rank
- 14475
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ala | away |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A wing or winglike anatomic process or part, especially of bone. | From a place, hence. |
Where the eye mixes ala and away
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ala vs away
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ala is /ˈeɪ.lə/ while away is /əˈweɪ/. 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 (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14475, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ala is recorded at frequency rank #14,261, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈeɪ.lə/. away is at rank #214, tagged as anadv, pronounced /əˈweɪ/.
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 14475, this pair ranks #469,823 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ala vs away
Shared letters: a. Private to "ala": l. Private to "away": wy.
"ala" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "away" · 4 letters · shape VCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- away ← aawy · awayy · awway · awya · waay
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ala" and "away" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "ala" or "away"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ala" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "away" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #469,823 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ala" and "away" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ala vs Asta". 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 #469,823 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.