Which to use
“aigu” is an adjective and “apu” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,595
- “aigu” frequency rank
- #48,918
- “apu” frequency rank
- 63513
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aigu | apu |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui a un aspect pointu, tranchant, voire déchirant. | Banquise. |
Where the eye mixes aigu and apu
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. aigu runs 4 letters (VVCV) against apu's 3 (VCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: aigu vs apu
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aigu is \e.ɡy\ while apu is \a.pu\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63513, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
aigu is recorded at frequency rank #14,595, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.ɡy\. apu is at rank #48,918, tagged as anoun, pronounced \a.pu\.
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 63513, this pair ranks #81,583 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of aigu vs apu
Shared letters: au. Private to "aigu": gi. Private to "apu": p.
"aigu" · 4 letters · shape VVCV · "apu" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- aigu ← agiu · aiggu · aiug · iagu
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "aigu" and "apu" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "aigu" or "apu"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "aigu" and "apu" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "aigu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "apu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #81,583 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aigu" and "apu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apu vs aur". 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 #81,583 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.