Which to use
“ace” and “an” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,189
- “ace” frequency rank
- #363
- “an” frequency rank
- 14552
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ace | an |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Service gagnant sans que l'adversaire ait touché la balle. | 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 ace and an
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ace vs an
A purely visual mix-up. ace (\ɛs\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14552, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ace is recorded at frequency rank #14,189, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛs\. 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 14552, this pair ranks #396,182 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ace vs an
Shared letters: a. Private to "ace": ce. Private to "an": n.
"ace" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "an" · 2 letters · shape VC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ace" and "an" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "ace" or "an"?
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 "ace" 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 #396,182 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ace" and "an" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ace vs aves". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #396,182 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.