Which to use
“ago” is a postp and “ami” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #32,663
- “ago” frequency rank
- #665
- “ami” frequency rank
- 33328
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ago | ami |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Il y a (dans le passé). | Qui est bienveillant, obligeant, amical. |
Where the eye mixes ago and ami
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ago vs ami
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ago is \ə.ˈɡoʊ\ while ami is \a.mi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (postp vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33328, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ago is recorded at frequency rank #32,663, classified as apostp, pronounced \ə.ˈɡoʊ\. ami is at rank #665, tagged as anadj, pronounced \a.mi\.
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 33328, this pair ranks #291,368 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ago vs ami
Shared letters: a. Private to "ago": go. Private to "ami": im.
"ago" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "ami" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ago" and "ami" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "ago" or "ami" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "ago" and "ami" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ago" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ami" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #291,368 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ago" and "ami" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ago vs aur". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #291,368 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.