Which to use
“A1” and “an” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,858
- “A1” frequency rank
- #363
- “an” frequency rank
- 18221
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | A1 | an |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Format d'une feuille de 594,6 mm sur 840,9. | Temps que met la Terre à accomplir une révolution autour du Soleil et qui se divise en douze mois. Année (voir Notes plus bas). |
Where the eye mixes A1 and an
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: A1 vs an
A purely visual mix-up. A1 (\a.œ̃\) and an (\ɑ̃\) 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 a single letter - 1 in “A1” becomes n in “an”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18221, 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\. an is at rank #363, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃\.
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 18221, this pair ranks #379,412 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of A1 vs an
Shared letters: a. Private to "A1": -. Private to "an": n.
"A1" · 1 letters · shape V · "an" · 2 letters · shape VC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "A1" and "an" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "A1" or "an"?
Useful next steps
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 "an" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #379,412 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "A1" and "an" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "A1 vs aur". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #379,412 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.