A1vsafConfusable pair

Quick tell: A1 is a noun, af is a preposition, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“A1” is a noun and “af” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,858
“A1” frequency rank
#14,405
“af” frequency rank
32263
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature A1 af
Definition Format d'une feuille de 594,6 mm sur 840,9. De. Note d’usage : la préposition est suivie du datif.

Where the eye mixes A1 and af

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

2 ch
A1
2 ch
af

Why the eye confuses A1 with af

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: A1 is \a.œ̃\ while af is \aːv\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - 1 in “A1” becomes f in “af”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32263, 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\. af is at rank #14,405, tagged as aprep, pronounced \aːv\.

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 32263, this pair ranks #298,404 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of A1 vs af

Shared letters: a. Private to "A1": -. Private to "af": f.

"A1" · 1 letters · shape V  ·  "af" · 2 letters · shape VC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "A1" and "af" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "A1" is a noun and "af" a preposition, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "A1" or "af" show up more?
"af" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,405 in our French list, against #17,858 for "A1". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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 "af" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #298,404 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "A1" and "af" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "A1 vs aur". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #298,404 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