allégervsallongerWhat's the difference?

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set alléger and allonger apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
alléger
8 ch
allonger

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

  • allongerallnoger · allogner · allonegr · allongerr · allongger · allongre · allonnger · alolnger

Frequency comparison

alléger#17,865
allonger#12,514

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alléger" and "allonger" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\a(l).le.ʒe\ versus \a.lɔ̃.ʒe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "alléger" or "allonger"?
"allonger" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,514 in our French list, against #17,865 for "alléger". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering alléger vs allonger

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “alléger” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list