Which to use
“ace” and “ans” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,189
- “ace” frequency rank
- #90
- “ans” frequency rank
- 14279
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ace | ans |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Service gagnant sans que l'adversaire ait touché la balle. | Pluriel de an. |
Where the eye mixes ace and ans
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ace with ans
A purely visual mix-up. ace (\ɛs\) and ans (\ɑ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14279, 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\. ans is at rank #90, 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 14279, this pair ranks #397,383 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ace vs ans
Shared letters: a. Private to "ace": ce. Private to "ans": ns.
"ace" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "ans" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ace" for "ans" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ace" vs "ans" - which ranks higher?
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 "ace" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ans" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #397,383 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ace" and "ans" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ace vs aves". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #397,383 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.