auxvsazConfusable pair

Quick tell: aux is a article, az is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“aux” is an article and “az” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#58
“aux” frequency rank
#23,772
“az” frequency rank
23830
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aux az
Definition Contraction obligatoire de la préposition à et de l'article défini les. Première lettre de l’alphabet glagolitique, Ⰰ.

Where the eye mixes aux and az

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
aux
2 ch
az

Visual trap between aux and az

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aux is \o\ while az is \az\. 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 (article vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23830, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aux is recorded at frequency rank #58, classified as anarticle, pronounced \o\. az is at rank #23,772, tagged as anoun, pronounced \az\.

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 23830, this pair ranks #350,223 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of aux vs az

Shared letters: a. Private to "aux": ux. Private to "az": z.

"aux" · 3 letters · shape VVC  ·  "az" · 2 letters · shape VC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "aux" and "az" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "aux" is an article and "az" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "aux" or "az"?
"aux" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #58 in our French list, against #23,772 for "az". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aux" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "az" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #350,223 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aux" and "az" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aur vs az". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #350,223 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list