aléavsaseConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#36,240
“aléa” frequency rank
#43,779
“ase” frequency rank
80019
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aléa ase
Definition Chance bonne ou mauvaise. Plante herbacée vivace de la famille des Apiaceae, dont l’espèce la plus connue est l’ase fétide (Ferula assa-foetida).

Where the eye mixes aléa and ase

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. aléa runs 4 letters (VCVV) against ase's 3 (VCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
aléa
3 ch
ase

Look-alike desk: aléa vs ase

A purely visual mix-up. aléa (\a.le.a\) and ase (\az\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80019, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aléa is recorded at frequency rank #36,240, classified as anoun, pronounced \a.le.a\. ase is at rank #43,779, tagged as anoun, pronounced \az\.

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 80019, this pair ranks #21,935 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of aléa vs ase

Shared letters: a. Private to "aléa": lé. Private to "ase": es.

"aléa" · 4 letters · shape VCVV  ·  "ase" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "aléa" and "ase" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\a.le.a\ versus \az\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "aléa" or "ase"?
"aléa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,240 in our French list, against #43,779 for "ase". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aléa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ase" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #21,935 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aléa" and "ase" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ase vs aves". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #21,935 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list