Which to use
“ail” and “avril” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,426
- “ail” frequency rank
- #539
- “avril” frequency rank
- 9965
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ail | avril |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Espèce de plante à bulbe de la famille des liliacées (classification classique) ou des amaryllidacées (classification phylogénétique) à bulbe composé de plusieurs petites gousses réunies sous une enveloppe commune, utilisé en cuisine, d’une odeur et d’un goût très fort et piquant dû notamment à des composés de soufre. | Quatrième mois de l’année dans le calendrier grégorien, il est placé entre mars et mai et il dure 30 jours. |
Where the eye mixes ail and avril
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between ail and avril
A purely visual mix-up. ail (\aj\) and avril (\a.vʁil\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9965, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ail is recorded at frequency rank #9,426, classified as anoun, pronounced \aj\. avril is at rank #539, tagged as anoun, pronounced \a.vʁil\.
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 9965, this pair ranks #414,752 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ail vs avril
Shared letters: ail. Private to "ail": -. Private to "avril": rv.
"ail" · 3 letters · shape VVC · "avril" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- avril ← arvil · avirl · avrill · avrli · avrril · avvril · varil
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ail" for "avril" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ail" vs "avril" - which ranks higher?
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 "ail" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "avril" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #414,752 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ail" and "avril" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ail 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 #414,752 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.