Which to use
“ath” is an article and “axa” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,830
- “ath” frequency rank
- #21,859
- “axa” frequency rank
- 53689
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ath | axa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Contraction de la préposition a et de l'article défini eth. | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple du verbe axer. |
Where the eye mixes ath and axa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ath with axa
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ath is \at\ while axa is \ak.sa\. 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 (article vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53689, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ath is recorded at frequency rank #31,830, classified as anarticle, pronounced \at\. axa is at rank #21,859, tagged as averb, pronounced \ak.sa\.
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 53689, this pair ranks #139,069 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ath vs axa
Shared letters: a. Private to "ath": ht. Private to "axa": x.
"ath" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "axa" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ath" for "axa" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "ath" or "axa" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ath" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "axa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #139,069 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ath" and "axa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ath vs aur". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #139,069 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.