allsvsanusWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#44,608
“alls” frequency rank
#20,835
“anus” frequency rank
65443
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alls anus
Definition All. The external orifice of the rectum in most mammals, teleost fish, and many invertebrates, through which feces and flatus are ejected.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
alls
4 ch
anus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: alls is /ɔːlz/ while anus is /ˈeɪ.nəs/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (determiner vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65443, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alls is recorded at frequency rank #44,608, classified as adet, pronounced /ɔːlz/. anus is at rank #20,835, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈeɪ.nəs/.

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 65443, this pair ranks #72,718 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alls vs anus

Shared letters: as. Private to "alls": l. Private to "anus": nu.

"alls" · 4 letters · shape VCCC  ·  "anus" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • allsallss · alsl · lals
  • anusannus · ansu · anuss · auns · naus

Frequency comparison

alls#44,608
anus#20,835

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alls" and "anus" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "alls" is a determiner and "anus" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "alls" or "anus"?
"anus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,835 in our English list, against #44,608 for "alls". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering alls vs anus

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a determiner, it's “alls”; for a noun, it's “anus”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “alls” 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