A
/eɪ̯/
"a" is a 1-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“A” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #5) as a character. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.
- #5
- frequency rank, English
- 3,931
- “A” headwords
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - The first letter of the English alphabet, called a and written in the Latin script.
Corpus desk
Index EN-a · A · English
A · rank #5 · 0 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-CORE #5
- LEN-SHORT 1 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,931
- PHOTO-FINISH of
Nearest frequency peer: of (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “A”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- to
to
99,999 corpus weight
- and
and
99,998 corpus weight
- of
of
99,997 corpus weight
- A
A
99,996 corpus weight
- in
in
99,995 corpus weight
- i
i
99,994 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “A” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | A |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Character |
| IPA | /eɪ̯/ |
| Letters | 1 |
| Frequency rank | #5 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “A” sits in English frequency
Easy to mix with look-alikes
The spelling risk for A is neighbouring look-alikes ("as", "at", …), not just typos; it is acharacter pronounced /eɪ̯/. Frequency #5 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Gloss: "The first letter of the English alphabet, called a and written in the Latin script.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for A, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "as", "at", "an", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English and Old English upper case letter A and split of Middle English and Old English upper case letter Æ. * The Old English letters A and Æ replaced the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc letters ᚪ (a, “āc”) and ᚫ (æ, “æsc”), derived from the Runic letter ᚫ… The correct English form is A, spelled A.
Definition
- 1The first letter of the English alphabet, called a and written in the Latin script.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how A appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Apple starts with A.
Boxer could not get beyond the letter D. He would trace out A, B, C, D, in the dust with his great hoof […]
Etymology
From Middle English and Old English upper case letter A and split of Middle English and Old English upper case letter Æ. * The Old English letters A and Æ replaced the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc letters ᚪ (a, “āc”) and ᚫ (æ, “æsc”), derived from the Runic letter ᚫ (a, “Ansuz”), in the 7th century.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "A"?
What does "A" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "A"?
How do you pronounce "A"?
What is the origin of the word "A"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.