Which to use
“als” is an adverb and “ass” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,755
- “als” frequency rank
- #1,065
- “ass” frequency rank
- 18820
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | als | ass |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Obsolete form of also. | Any of several species of horse-like animals, especially Equus asinus, the domesticated of which are used as beasts of burden. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set als and ass apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
als and ass 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 a single letter - l in “als” becomes s in “ass” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18820, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
als is recorded at frequency rank #17,755, classified as anadv. ass is at rank #1,065, tagged as anoun, pronounced /æs/.
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 18820, this pair ranks #442,346 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "als" and "ass" be used interchangeably?
Remembering als vs ass
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “als”; for a noun, it's “ass”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “als” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable