acesvsactesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“aces” and “actes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#43,246
“aces” frequency rank
#1,552
“actes” frequency rank
44798
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aces actes
Definition Pluriel de ace. Pluriel de acte.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set aces and actes apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
aces
5 ch
actes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. aces (\ɛs\) and actes (\akt\) 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 44798, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aces is recorded at frequency rank #43,246, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛs\. actes is at rank #1,552, tagged as anoun, pronounced \akt\.

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 44798, this pair ranks #207,729 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of aces vs actes

Shared letters: aces. Private to "aces": -. Private to "actes": t.

"aces" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "actes" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • acesaecs
  • actesacctes · acets · actess · actse · acttes · atces · cates

Frequency comparison

aces#43,246
actes#1,552

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aces" and "actes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɛs\ versus \akt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "aces" or "actes"?
"actes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,552 in our French list, against #43,246 for "aces". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering aces vs actes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “aces” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list