Which to use
“al” is a symbol and “all” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,052
- “al” frequency rank
- #3,589
- “all” frequency rank
- 4641
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | al | all |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Symbole de l’année-lumière, unité de longueur utilisée en astronomie. | Tout, tous. |
Where the eye mixes al and all
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between al and all
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: al is \a.ne ly.mjɛʁ\ while all is \al\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “al” sits inside “all”, and the parts of speech differ too (symbol vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4641, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
al is recorded at frequency rank #1,052, classified as asymbol, pronounced \a.ne ly.mjɛʁ\. all is at rank #3,589, tagged as anadj, pronounced \al\.
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 4641, this pair ranks #431,090 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of al vs all
Shared letters: al. Private to "al": -. Private to "all": -.
"al" · 2 letters · shape VC · "all" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "al" and "all" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "al" or "all"?
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 "al" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "all" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #431,090 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "al" and "all" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "all vs aur". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #431,090 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.