Which to use
“af” is a preposition and “av” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,405
- “af” frequency rank
- #4,732
- “av” frequency rank
- 19137
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | af | av |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | De. Note d’usage : la préposition est suivie du datif. | Onzième mois du calendrier hébraïque. |
Same sound, different letters: af vs av
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 1 letter.
Ear matches; page differs - af and av
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: af and av carry the same recorded pronunciation, \aːv\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is apreposition, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by a single letter - f in “af” becomes v in “av”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19137, 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\. av is at rank #4,732, tagged as anoun, pronounced \av\.
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 19137, this pair ranks #374,786 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of af vs av
Shared letters: a. Private to "af": f. Private to "av": v.
"af" · 2 letters · shape VC · "av" · 2 letters · shape VC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "af" for "av" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "af" or "av" show up more?
Useful next steps
"af" and "av" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "af" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "av" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #374,786 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "af" and "av" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "af vs aur". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #374,786 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.