ammvsauWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: amm is a noun, au is an article, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“amm” is a noun and “au” is an article - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#39,149
“amm” frequency rank
#24
“au” frequency rank
39173
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature amm au
Definition Baiser, bisou. Contraction de la préposition à et de l'article défini le.

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
amm
2 ch
au

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: amm is [amː] while au is \o\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs article), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39173, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

amm is recorded at frequency rank #39,149, classified as anoun, pronounced [amː]. au is at rank #24, tagged as anarticle, pronounced \o\.

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 39173, this pair ranks #249,958 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of amm vs au

Shared letters: a. Private to "amm": m. Private to "au": u.

"amm" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "au" · 2 letters · shape VV

Frequency comparison

amm#39,149
au#24

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "amm" and "au" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "amm" is a noun and "au" an article, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "amm" or "au"?
"au" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24 in our French list, against #39,149 for "amm". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering amm vs au

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “amm”; for an article, it's “au”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “amm” 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