Which to use
“aïe” is an intj and “at” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,571
- “aïe” frequency rank
- #4,122
- “at” frequency rank
- 19693
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aïe | at |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Cri exprimant la douleur. | Ancien nom de l’attier, qui a peut-être été importé à la Réunion par les Malbars et les Tamouls ; ce nom était particulièrement fréquent au Sénégal. |
Where the eye mixes aïe and at
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. aïe runs 3 letters (VCV) against at's 2 (VC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: aïe vs at
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aïe is \aj\ while at is \at\. 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 (intj vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19693, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
aïe is recorded at frequency rank #15,571, classified as anintj, pronounced \aj\. at is at rank #4,122, tagged as anoun, pronounced \at\.
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 19693, this pair ranks #372,000 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of aïe vs at
Shared letters: a. Private to "aïe": eï. Private to "at": t.
"aïe" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "at" · 2 letters · shape VC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "aïe" and "at" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "aïe" or "at" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "aïe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "at" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #372,000 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aïe" and "at" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aïe vs aves". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #372,000 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.