alsvsatWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: als is a pronoun, at is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“als” is a pronoun and “at” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,096
“als” frequency rank
#4,122
“at” frequency rank
27218
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature als at
Definition Pronom de la troisième personne du singulier utilisé pour parler de plusieurs personnes peu importe(nt) leur(s) genre(s). Ancien nom de l’attier, qui a peut-être été importé à la Réunion par les Malbars et les Tamouls ; ce nom était particulièrement fréquent au Sénégal.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set als and at apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
als
2 ch
at

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

als and at form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27218, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

als is recorded at frequency rank #23,096, classified as apron, pronounced \al\. at is at rank #4,122, tagged as anoun, pronounced \at\.

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 27218, this pair ranks #330,367 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

als#23,096
at#4,122

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "als" and "at" be used interchangeably?
No, "als" and "at" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering als vs at

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a pronoun, it's “als”; for a noun, it's “at”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “als” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list