Which to use
“also” is an adverb and “ao” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #70
- “also” frequency rank
- #17,538
- “ao” frequency rank
- 17608
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | also | ao |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | In addition; besides; as well; further; too. | grue ("blue or green", considered one color) |
Letter map: also vs ao
Shared letters muted; letters that set also and ao apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Grammar separator: also vs ao
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: also is anadverb and aoanoun. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17608, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
also is recorded at frequency rank #70, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈɔːl.səʊ/. ao is at rank #17,538, 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 17608, this pair ranks #450,303 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of also vs ao
Shared letters: ao. Private to "also": ls. Private to "ao": -.
"also" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "ao" · 2 letters · shape VV
Known mistypes of this pair
- also ← allso · alos · alsso · aslo · laso
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "also" for "ao" ever safe?
Which is more common, "also" or "ao"?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "also" and "ao".
- Full dictionary entry for "also" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ao" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #450,303 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "also" and "ao" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "amb vs ao". 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 #450,303 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.