acesvsaimesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#43,246
“aces” frequency rank
#1,941
“aimes” frequency rank
45187
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aces aimes
Definition Pluriel de ace. Pluriel de aime.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set aces and aimes apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
aces
5 ch
aimes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. aces (\ɛs\) and aimes (\ɛm\) 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 45187, 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\. aimes is at rank #1,941, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛm\.

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 45187, this pair ranks #204,706 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of aces vs aimes

Shared letters: aes. Private to "aces": c. Private to "aimes": im.

"aces" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "aimes" · 5 letters · shape VVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • acesaecs
  • aimesaiems · aimess · aimmes · aimse · iames

Frequency comparison

aces#43,246
aimes#1,941

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aces" and "aimes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɛs\ versus \ɛm\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "aces" or "aimes"?
"aimes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,941 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 aimes

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