Which to use
“ains” and “amis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,903
- “ains” frequency rank
- #444
- “amis” frequency rank
- 49347
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ains | amis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de ain. | Pluriel de ami. |
Where the eye mixes ains and amis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. ains (VVCC) and amis (VCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: ains vs amis
A purely visual mix-up. ains (\ɛ̃\) and amis (\a.mi\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49347, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ains is recorded at frequency rank #48,903, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃\. amis is at rank #444, tagged as anoun, pronounced \a.mi\.
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 49347, this pair ranks #171,434 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ains vs amis
Shared letters: ais. Private to "ains": n. Private to "amis": m.
"ains" · 4 letters · shape VVCC · "amis" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ains" and "amis" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "ains" vs "amis" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ains" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "amis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #171,434 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ains" and "amis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ains vs aves". 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 #171,434 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.