Which to use
“atours” is a noun and “autour” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,281
- “atours” frequency rank
- #502
- “autour” frequency rank
- 43783
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | atours | autour |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de atour. | Aux alentours ; aux environs. |
Where the eye mixes atours and autour
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. atours (VCVVCC) and autour (VVCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between atours and autour
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: atours is \a.tuʁ\ while autour is \o.tuʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 5 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43783, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
atours is recorded at frequency rank #43,281, classified as anoun, pronounced \a.tuʁ\. autour is at rank #502, tagged as anadv, pronounced \o.tuʁ\.
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 43783, this pair ranks #215,436 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of atours vs autour
Shared letters: aortu. Private to "atours": s. Private to "autour": -.
"atours" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCC · "autour" · 6 letters · shape VVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "atours" for "autour" ever safe?
Which is more common, "atours" or "autour"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "atours" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "autour" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #215,436 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "atours" and "autour" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "atos vs atours". 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 #215,436 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.