Which to use
“ait” is a verb and “aux” is an article - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #538
- “ait” frequency rank
- #58
- “aux” frequency rank
- 596
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ait | aux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du subjonctif présent du verbe auxiliaire avoir. | Contraction obligatoire de la préposition à et de l'article défini les. |
Where the eye mixes ait and aux
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ait vs aux
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ait is \ɛ\ while aux is \o\. 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 (verb vs article), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 596, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ait is recorded at frequency rank #538, classified as averb, pronounced \ɛ\. aux is at rank #58, tagged as anarticle, pronounced \o\.
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 596, this pair ranks #439,409 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ait vs aux
Shared letters: a. Private to "ait": it. Private to "aux": ux.
"ait" · 3 letters · shape VVC · "aux" · 3 letters · shape VVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ait" for "aux" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "ait" or "aux" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "aux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #439,409 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ait" and "aux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ait vs aur". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #439,409 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.