aillevsaillesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“aille” and “ailles” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#3,432
“aille” frequency rank
#25,192
“ailles” frequency rank
28624
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aille ailles
Definition Première personne du singulier du subjonctif présent de aller. Deuxième personne du singulier du subjonctif présent du verbe aller.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set aille and ailles apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
aille
6 ch
ailles

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. aille and ailles are pronounced identically (\aj\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “aille” sits inside “ailles”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28624, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aille is recorded at frequency rank #3,432, classified as averb, pronounced \aj\. ailles is at rank #25,192, 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 28624, this pair ranks #321,664 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of aille vs ailles

Shared letters: aeil. Private to "aille": -. Private to "ailles": s.

"aille" · 5 letters · shape VVCCV  ·  "ailles" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ailleaile · ailel · alile · ialle
  • aillesailels · ailless · aillse · aliles · ialles

Frequency comparison

aille#3,432
ailles#25,192

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aille" and "ailles" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\aj\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "aille" or "ailles"?
"aille" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,432 in our French list, against #25,192 for "ailles". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering aille vs ailles

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “aille” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list