javsjusTell them apart

Which to use

“ja” and “jus” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#11,604
“ja” frequency rank
#3,768
“jus” frequency rank
15372
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ja jus
Definition Trente-deuxième lettre de l’alphabet cyrillique, я. Solution aqueuse obtenue à partir d’un produit solide par pression, coction, infusion ou tout autre moyen.

Where the eye mixes ja and jus

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

2 ch
ja
3 ch
jus

Why the eye confuses ja with jus

A purely visual mix-up. ja (\ja\) and jus (\ʒy\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15372, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ja is recorded at frequency rank #11,604, classified as anoun, pronounced \ja\. jus is at rank #3,768, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʒy\.

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 15372, this pair ranks #392,652 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ja vs jus

Shared letters: j. Private to "ja": a. Private to "jus": su.

"ja" · 2 letters · shape CV  ·  "jus" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ja" and "jus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ja\ versus \ʒy\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ja" vs "jus" - which ranks higher?
"jus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,768 in our French list, against #11,604 for "ja". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "ja" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "jus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #392,652 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ja" and "jus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ja vs jor". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #392,652 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