Which to use
“ancre” and “année” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,958
- “ancre” frequency rank
- #173
- “année” frequency rank
- 14131
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ancre | année |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Objet lourd au bout d’une corde ou chaine, qu’on laisse tomber au fond de l’eau afin d’empêcher un bateau de dériver. | Subdivision du temps, correspondant à la durée d’une révolution de la Terre autour du Soleil, qui comporte 365 jours (ou 366 jours dans l’année bissextile), 52 semaines environ, 12 mois solaires. |
Where the eye mixes ancre and année
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. ancre (VCCCV) and année (VCCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between ancre and année
A purely visual mix-up. ancre (\ɑ̃kʁ\) and année (\a.ne\) 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 14131, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ancre is recorded at frequency rank #13,958, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃kʁ\. année is at rank #173, tagged as anoun, pronounced \a.ne\.
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 14131, this pair ranks #398,055 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ancre vs année
Shared letters: aen. Private to "ancre": cr. Private to "année": é.
"ancre" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV · "année" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- ancre ← acnre · anccre · ancer · ancrre · anncre · anrce · nacre
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ancre" and "année" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "ancre" or "année" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "ancre" and "année" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ancre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "année" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #398,055 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ancre" and "année" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ancre vs Aure". 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 #398,055 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.