Which to use
“ah” is an onomatopoeia and “aur” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #396
- “ah” frequency rank
- #49,504
- “aur” frequency rank
- 49900
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ah | aur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Cri d’horreur ou d’effroi, en particulier lors d’une chute. | Or. Élément chimique de numéro atomique 79 et de symbole Au qui fait partie des métaux de transition. |
Where the eye mixes ah and aur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ah with aur
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ah is \aː\ while aur is \ˈawɾ\. 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 (onomatopoeia vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49900, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ah is recorded at frequency rank #396, classified as anonomatopoeia, pronounced \aː\. aur is at rank #49,504, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈawɾ\.
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 49900, this pair ranks #166,980 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ah vs aur
Shared letters: a. Private to "ah": h. Private to "aur": ru.
"ah" · 2 letters · shape VC · "aur" · 3 letters · shape VVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ah" for "aur" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ah" or "aur"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "ah" and "aur" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ah" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "aur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #166,980 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ah" and "aur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ahn vs aur". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #166,980 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.