Which to use
“aliens” is a noun and “allons” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,735
- “aliens” frequency rank
- #1,581
- “allons” frequency rank
- 21316
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aliens | allons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de alien. | Première personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent du verbe aller. |
Where the eye mixes aliens and allons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. aliens (VCVVCC) and allons (VCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses aliens with allons
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aliens is \a.ljɛn\ while allons is \a.lɔ̃\. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21316, 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\. allons is at rank #1,581, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.lɔ̃\.
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 21316, this pair ranks #363,798 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of aliens vs allons
Shared letters: alns. Private to "aliens": ei. Private to "allons": o.
"aliens" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCC · "allons" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "aliens" and "allons" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "aliens" or "allons" 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 "allons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #363,798 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aliens" and "allons" 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 #363,798 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.