âgésvsAPSWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: âgés is a adjective, APS is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“âgés” is an adjective and “APS” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,016
“âgés” frequency rank
#22,169
“APS” frequency rank
29185
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature âgés APS
Definition Masculin pluriel de âgé. Phase d’un projet de construction de bâtiment pendant la conception, subdivision de l’avant-projet, dite d’avant-projet sommaire, se situant entre l’ESQ (esquisse) et l’APD (avant-projet définitif), selon la loi MOP.

Where the eye mixes âgés and APS

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

4 ch
âgés
3 ch
APS

Look-alike desk: âgés vs APS

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: âgés is \a.ʒe\ while APS is \a.pe.ɛs\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29185, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

âgés is recorded at frequency rank #7,016, classified as anadj, pronounced \a.ʒe\. APS is at rank #22,169, tagged as anoun, pronounced \a.pe.ɛs\.

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 29185, this pair ranks #318,232 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of âgés vs APS

Shared letters: s. Private to "âgés": gâé. Private to "APS": ap.

"âgés" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "APS" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "âgés" for "APS" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "âgés" is an adjective and "APS" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "âgés" or "APS"?
"âgés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,016 in our French list, against #22,169 for "APS". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "âgés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "APS" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #318,232 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "âgés" and "APS" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "APS vs aves". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #318,232 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list