A1vsaekTell them apart

Which to use

“A1” and “aek” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#17,858
“A1” frequency rank
#49,464
“aek” frequency rank
67322
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature A1 aek
Definition Format d'une feuille de 594,6 mm sur 840,9. Zone radiale entre A et E (roue matricielle).

Where the eye mixes A1 and aek

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

2 ch
A1
3 ch
aek

Visual trap between A1 and aek

A purely visual mix-up. A1 (\a.œ̃\) and aek (\aˈɛk\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67322, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

A1 is recorded at frequency rank #17,858, classified as anoun, pronounced \a.œ̃\. aek is at rank #49,464, tagged as anoun, pronounced \aˈɛk\.

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 67322, this pair ranks #63,914 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of A1 vs aek

Shared letters: a. Private to "A1": -. Private to "aek": ek.

"A1" · 1 letters · shape V  ·  "aek" · 3 letters · shape VVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "A1" for "aek" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\a.œ̃\ versus \aˈɛk\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "A1" or "aek"?
"A1" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,858 in our French list, against #49,464 for "aek". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "A1" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aek" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #63,914 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "A1" and "aek" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aek vs aves". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #63,914 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list