Which to use
“alla” is a verb and “als” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,986
- “alla” frequency rank
- #23,096
- “als” frequency rank
- 34082
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | alla | als |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif passé simple du verbe aller. | Pronom de la troisième personne du singulier utilisé pour parler de plusieurs personnes peu importe(nt) leur(s) genre(s). |
Where the eye mixes alla and als
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses alla with als
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: alla is \a.la\ while als is \al\. 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 (verb vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34082, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
alla is recorded at frequency rank #10,986, classified as averb, pronounced \a.la\. als is at rank #23,096, tagged as apron, pronounced \al\.
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 34082, this pair ranks #286,274 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of alla vs als
Shared letters: al. Private to "alla": -. Private to "als": s.
"alla" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "als" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- alla ← alal
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "alla" for "als" ever safe?
Frequency check: "alla" vs "als" - which ranks higher?
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 "alla" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "als" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #286,274 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "alla" and "als" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "als vs aves". 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 #286,274 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.