Which to use
“A4” is a symbol and “an” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,920
- “A4” frequency rank
- #363
- “an” frequency rank
- 19283
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | A4 | an |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Format de papier de 210 mm × 297 mm. | Temps que met la Terre à accomplir une révolution autour du Soleil et qui se divise en douze mois. Année (voir Notes plus bas). |
Letter map: A4 vs an
Shared letters muted; letters that set A4 and an apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.
Grammar separator: A4 vs an
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: A4 is asymbol and ananoun. On the page they differ by a single letter - 4 in “A4” becomes n in “an”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19283, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
A4 is recorded at frequency rank #18,920, classified as asymbol. 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 19283, this pair ranks #374,017 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of A4 vs an
Shared letters: a. Private to "A4": -. Private to "an": n.
"A4" · 1 letters · shape V · "an" · 2 letters · shape VC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "A4" for "an" ever safe?
Frequency check: "A4" vs "an" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
You've compared "A4" and "an". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "A4" 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 #374,017 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "A4" and "an" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "A4 vs aur". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #374,017 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.