Which to use
“age” is a verb and “an” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,692
- “age” frequency rank
- #2,817
- “an” frequency rank
- 7509
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | age | an |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | envelhecer | ligado, aceso: |
Letter map: age vs an
Shared letters muted; letters that set age and an apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.
Grammar separator: age vs an
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: age is averb and ananadverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7509, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
age is recorded at frequency rank #4,692, classified as averb. an is at rank #2,817, tagged as anadv, pronounced /an/.
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 7509, this pair ranks #66,607 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of age vs an
Shared letters: a. Private to "age": eg. Private to "an": n.
"age" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "an" · 2 letters · shape VC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "age" for "an" ever safe?
Which is more common, "age" or "an"?
Useful next steps
Pair "age" vs "an" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "age" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "an" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #66,607 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "age" and "an" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acs vs age". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #66,607 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.