Which to use
“aigre” is an adjective and “aille” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,810
- “aigre” frequency rank
- #3,432
- “aille” frequency rank
- 35242
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aigre | aille |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui a une saveur acide et amère provoquant un sentiment désagréable. | Première personne du singulier du subjonctif présent de aller. |
Where the eye mixes aigre and aille
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. aigre and aille follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses aigre with aille
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aigre is \ɛɡʁ\ while aille is \aj\. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35242, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
aigre is recorded at frequency rank #31,810, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛɡʁ\. aille is at rank #3,432, tagged as averb, pronounced \aj\.
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 35242, this pair ranks #278,137 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of aigre vs aille
Shared letters: aei. Private to "aigre": gr. Private to "aille": l.
"aigre" · 5 letters · shape VVCCV · "aille" · 5 letters · shape VVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "aigre" and "aille" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "aigre" or "aille" 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 "aigre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "aille" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #278,137 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aigre" and "aille" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aigre vs Aure". 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 #278,137 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.