allvsAUWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: all is a determiner, AU is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“all” is a determiner and “AU” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#32
“all” frequency rank
#6,867
“AU” frequency rank
6899
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature all AU
Definition Every individual or anything of the given class, with no exceptions (the noun or noun phrase denoting the class must be plural or uncountable). Initialism of alopecia universalis.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set all and AU apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
all
2 ch
AU

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

all and AU form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6899, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

all is recorded at frequency rank #32, classified as adet, pronounced /ɔːl/. AU is at rank #6,867, 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 6899, this pair ranks #509,505 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

all#32
AU#6,867

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "all" and "AU" be used interchangeably?
No, "all" and "AU" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering all vs AU

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a determiner, it's “all”; for a noun, it's “AU”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “all” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list