Which to use
“ase” is a noun and “axés” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,779
- “ase” frequency rank
- #38,660
- “axés” frequency rank
- 82439
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ase | axés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Plante herbacée vivace de la famille des Apiaceae, dont l’espèce la plus connue est l’ase fétide (Ferula assa-foetida). | Participe passé masculin pluriel du verbe axer. |
Where the eye mixes ase and axés
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. ase runs 3 letters (VCV) against axés's 4 (VCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses ase with axés
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ase is \az\ while axés is \ak.se\. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82439, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ase is recorded at frequency rank #43,779, classified as anoun, pronounced \az\. axés is at rank #38,660, tagged as averb, pronounced \ak.se\.
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 82439, this pair ranks #16,743 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ase vs axés
Shared letters: as. Private to "ase": e. Private to "axés": xé.
"ase" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "axés" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ase" for "axés" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ase" vs "axés" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ase" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "axés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #16,743 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ase" and "axés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ase vs aves". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #16,743 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.