Which to use
“af” is a preposition and “an” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,405
- “af” frequency rank
- #363
- “an” frequency rank
- 14768
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | af | an |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | De. Note d’usage : la préposition est suivie du datif. | Temps que met la Terre à accomplir une révolution autour du Soleil et qui se divise en douze mois. Année (voir Notes plus bas). |
Where the eye mixes af and an
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses af with an
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: af is \aːv\ while an is \ɑ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - f in “af” becomes n in “an”, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14768, 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\. an is at rank #363, 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 14768, this pair ranks #395,302 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of af vs an
Shared letters: a. Private to "af": f. Private to "an": n.
"af" · 2 letters · shape VC · "an" · 2 letters · shape VC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "af" for "an" ever safe?
Which is more common, "af" or "an"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "af" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "an" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #395,302 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "af" and "an" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "af vs aur". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #395,302 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.