Which to use
“ans” is a noun and “aux” is an article - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #90
- “ans” frequency rank
- #58
- “aux” frequency rank
- 148
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ans | aux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de an. | Contraction obligatoire de la préposition à et de l'article défini les. |
Where the eye mixes ans and aux
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ans vs aux
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ans is \ɑ̃\ while aux is \o\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs article), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 148, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ans is recorded at frequency rank #90, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃\. aux is at rank #58, 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 148, this pair ranks #440,053 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ans vs aux
Shared letters: a. Private to "ans": ns. Private to "aux": ux.
"ans" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "aux" · 3 letters · shape VVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ans" and "aux" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "ans" or "aux" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ans" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "aux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #440,053 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ans" and "aux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ans vs aves". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #440,053 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.