Which to use
“af” is a preposition and “âge” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,405
- “af” frequency rank
- #574
- “âge” frequency rank
- 14979
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | af | âge |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | De. Note d’usage : la préposition est suivie du datif. | Période écoulée depuis la naissance d’un être vivant ou la fabrication ou apparition d’une chose. |
Where the eye mixes af and âge
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. No shared run - shape, not overlap, is the trap.
Visual trap between af and âge
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: af is \aːv\ while âge is \ɑʒ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14979, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
af is recorded at frequency rank #14,405, classified as aprep, pronounced \aːv\. âge is at rank #574, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɑʒ\.
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 14979, this pair ranks #394,381 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of af vs âge
Shared letters: none. Private to "af": af. Private to "âge": egâ.
"af" · 2 letters · shape VC · "âge" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "af" for "âge" ever safe?
Which is more common, "af" or "âge"?
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 "af" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "âge" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #394,381 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "af" and "âge" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "af vs aur". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #394,381 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.