Which to use
“alt” and “ami” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,561
- “alt” frequency rank
- #665
- “ami” frequency rank
- 16226
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | alt | ami |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Vieux, vieille, âgé, âgée. | Qui est bienveillant, obligeant, amical. |
Where the eye mixes alt and ami
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses alt with ami
A purely visual mix-up. alt (\alt\) and ami (\a.mi\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16226, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
alt is recorded at frequency rank #15,561, classified as anadj, pronounced \alt\. ami is at rank #665, tagged as anadj, pronounced \a.mi\.
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 16226, this pair ranks #388,809 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of alt vs ami
Shared letters: a. Private to "alt": lt. Private to "ami": im.
"alt" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "ami" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "alt" and "ami" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "alt" or "ami" 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 "alt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ami" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #388,809 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "alt" and "ami" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alt vs aur". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #388,809 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.