acesvsahemWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: aces is a noun, ahem is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“aces” is a noun and “ahem” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#43,246
“aces” frequency rank
#46,566
“ahem” frequency rank
89812
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aces ahem
Definition Pluriel de ace. Hum.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set aces and ahem apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
aces
4 ch
ahem

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aces is \ɛs\ while ahem is \a.ˈhe.m\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 89812, 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\. ahem is at rank #46,566, tagged as anintj, pronounced \a.ˈhe.m\.

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 89812, this pair ranks #5,408 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of aces vs ahem

Shared letters: ae. Private to "aces": cs. Private to "ahem": hm.

"aces" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "ahem" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • acesaecs
  • ahemaehm · ahemm · ahhem · ahme · haem

Frequency comparison

aces#43,246
ahem#46,566

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aces" and "ahem" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "aces" is a noun and "ahem" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "aces" or "ahem"?
"aces" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #43,246 in our French list, against #46,566 for "ahem". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering aces vs ahem

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “aces”; for an intj, it's “ahem”.
  • 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