Which to use
“alléger” and “allonger” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,865
- “alléger” frequency rank
- #12,514
- “allonger” frequency rank
- 30379
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | alléger | allonger |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Soulager d’une partie d’un fardeau. | Rendre plus long. |
Where the eye mixes alléger and allonger
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. alléger runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against allonger's 8 (VCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses alléger with allonger
A purely visual mix-up. alléger (\a(l).le.ʒe\) and allonger (\a.lɔ̃.ʒe\) 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 30379, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
alléger is recorded at frequency rank #17,865, classified as averb, pronounced \a(l).le.ʒe\. allonger is at rank #12,514, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.lɔ̃.ʒe\.
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 30379, this pair ranks #310,704 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of alléger vs allonger
Shared letters: aeglr. Private to "alléger": é. Private to "allonger": no.
"alléger" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "allonger" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- allonger ← allnoger · allogner · allonegr · allongerr · allongger · allongre · allonnger · alolnger
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "alléger" and "allonger" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "alléger" or "allonger" 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 "alléger" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "allonger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #310,704 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "alléger" and "allonger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alléger vs allègue". 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 #310,704 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.