Which to use
“ala” is a noun and “allai” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,249
- “ala” frequency rank
- #38,638
- “allai” frequency rank
- 64887
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ala | allai |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dix-neuvième et dernier mois du calendrier bahaï, correspondant environ à la période du 2 au 20 mars du calendrier grégorien. Il est précédé des jours intercalaires et est un mois de jeûne. | Première personne de l’indicatif passé simple du verbe aller. |
Where the eye mixes ala and allai
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. ala runs 3 letters (VCV) against allai's 5 (VCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between ala and allai
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ala is \a.la\ while allai is \a.le\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64887, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ala is recorded at frequency rank #26,249, classified as anoun, pronounced \a.la\. allai is at rank #38,638, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.le\.
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 64887, this pair ranks #74,883 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ala vs allai
Shared letters: al. Private to "ala": -. Private to "allai": i.
"ala" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "allai" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- allai ← alali · lalai
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ala" and "allai" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "ala" or "allai" show up more?
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 "ala" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "allai" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #74,883 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ala" and "allai" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "allai vs allain". 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 #74,883 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.