Which to use
“année” is a noun and “anno” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #173
- “année” frequency rank
- #31,817
- “anno” frequency rank
- 31990
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | année | anno |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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. | En l'an. |
Where the eye mixes année and anno
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. année runs 5 letters (VCCVV) against anno's 4 (VCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between année and anno
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: année is \a.ne\ while anno is \ˈano\. 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 adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31990, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
année is recorded at frequency rank #173, classified as anoun, pronounced \a.ne\. anno is at rank #31,817, tagged as anadv, pronounced \ˈano\.
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 31990, this pair ranks #300,276 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of année vs anno
Shared letters: an. Private to "année": eé. Private to "anno": o.
"année" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV · "anno" · 4 letters · shape VCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- anno ← ano · anon
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "année" for "anno" ever safe?
Which is more common, "année" or "anno"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "année" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "anno" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #300,276 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "année" and "anno" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ahn vs anno". 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 #300,276 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.