Which to use
“ago” is a postp and “argon” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #32,663
- “ago” frequency rank
- #45,441
- “argon” frequency rank
- 78104
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ago | argon |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Il y a (dans le passé). | Élément chimique de numéro atomique 18 et de symbole Ar qui fait partie de la série chimique de gaz nobles. |
Where the eye mixes ago and argon
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ago vs argon
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ago is \ə.ˈɡoʊ\ while argon is \aʁ.ɡɔ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (postp vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78104, 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\. argon is at rank #45,441, tagged as anoun, pronounced \aʁ.ɡɔ̃\.
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 78104, this pair ranks #26,613 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ago vs argon
Shared letters: ago. Private to "ago": -. Private to "argon": nr.
"ago" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "argon" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- argon ← agron · arggon · argno · argonn · arogn · arrgon · ragon
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ago" for "argon" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ago" or "argon"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ago" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "argon" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #26,613 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ago" and "argon" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "argon vs Argonne". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #26,613 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.