Which to use
“amis” and “avis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #444
- “amis” frequency rank
- #503
- “avis” frequency rank
- 947
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | amis | avis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de ami. | Ce que l’on pense et aussi ce que l’on en dit ; opinion. |
Where the eye mixes amis and avis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between amis and avis
A purely visual mix-up. amis (\a.mi\) and avis (\a.vi\) 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 a single letter - m in “amis” becomes v in “avis”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 947, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
amis is recorded at frequency rank #444, classified as anoun, pronounced \a.mi\. avis is at rank #503, tagged as anoun, pronounced \a.vi\.
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 947, this pair ranks #438,874 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of amis vs avis
Shared letters: ais. Private to "amis": m. Private to "avis": v.
"amis" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "avis" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "amis" for "avis" ever safe?
Frequency check: "amis" vs "avis" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "amis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "avis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #438,874 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "amis" and "avis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aves vs avis". 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 #438,874 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.