am
/æm/verb, contraction, adverb
am is spelled A-M: 2 letters and one syllable. It appears 603 times per million words in written English, the 162nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, am means “first-person singular present indicative of be” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in am?
| Letters | 2: A-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 603 times per million words; the 162nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is am?
Am appears 603 times per million words in written English, the 162nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce am?
- /əm/
- UK /æm/
- UK [æm] ~ [am]
Am has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-am.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with am
Also written: a.m..
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with am?
10 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as am from its last stressed vowel (/æm/, British pronunciation):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
What does am mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
first-person singular present indicative of be
Marsha, I am in the kitchen!
adverb
- 1
Initialism of anno mundi
- 2
Alternative form of a.m. (“before noon”).
noun
- 1
Initialism of Master of Arts.
- 2
UKInitialism of Assembly Member, a title similar to MP, placed after the name of a Member of the Welsh National Assembly.
- 3
Initialism of automated mapping, used in conjunction with Facilities Managements abbreviations (AM/FM).
- 4
Member of the Order of Australia.
- 5
Initialism of amplitude modulation; radio programming broadcasted in this form.
That station is available on both AM and FM.
- 6
Initialism of additive manufacturing.
adjective
- 1
Shortened form of America or American, particularly as used in commercial names.
- 2
Shortened form of amateur, particularly as used in commercial names.
contraction
- 1
informalContraction of I + am.
adverb
- 1
Alternative spelling of a.m..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate am?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of am: m.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Am in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense before noon:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | AM |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does am come from?
From Middle English am, em, from Old English eam, eom (“am”), from Proto-West Germanic *im, from Proto-Germanic *immi, *izmi (“am”, form of the verb *wesaną (“to be; dwell”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésmi (“to be, to exist”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).