Which to use
“aliens” is a noun and “allions” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,735
- “aliens” frequency rank
- #18,643
- “allions” frequency rank
- 38378
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aliens | allions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de alien. | Première personne du pluriel de l’indicatif imparfait du verbe aller. |
Where the eye mixes aliens and allions
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. aliens runs 6 letters (VCVVCC) against allions's 7 (VCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: aliens vs allions
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aliens is \a.ljɛn\ while allions is \a.ljɔ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 38378, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
aliens is recorded at frequency rank #19,735, classified as anoun, pronounced \a.ljɛn\. allions is at rank #18,643, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.ljɔ̃\.
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 38378, this pair ranks #255,676 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of aliens vs allions
Shared letters: ailns. Private to "aliens": e. Private to "allions": o.
"aliens" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCC · "allions" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "aliens" for "allions" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "aliens" or "allions" 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 "aliens" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "allions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #255,676 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aliens" and "allions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aliens vs aryens". 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 #255,676 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.