Which to use
“all” is an adjective and “ans” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,589
- “all” frequency rank
- #90
- “ans” frequency rank
- 3679
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | all | ans |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tout, tous. | Pluriel de an. |
Where the eye mixes all and ans
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between all and ans
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: all is \al\ while ans is \ɑ̃\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3679, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
all is recorded at frequency rank #3,589, classified as anadj, pronounced \al\. ans is at rank #90, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃\.
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 3679, this pair ranks #433,433 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of all vs ans
Shared letters: a. Private to "all": l. Private to "ans": ns.
"all" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "ans" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "all" and "ans" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "all" or "ans"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "all" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ans" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #433,433 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "all" and "ans" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "all vs aur". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #433,433 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.