abcèsvsaccèsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#27,675
“abcès” frequency rank
#765
“accès” frequency rank
28440
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abcès accès
Definition Poche de pus dans une cavité formée aux dépens des tissus environnants. Action, endroit, ou facilité plus ou moins grande d’accéder dans un lieu, physique ou virtuel.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set abcès and accès apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
abcès
5 ch
accès

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. abcès (\ap.sɛ\) and accès (\ak.sɛ\) 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 a single letter - b in “abcès” becomes c in “accès”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28440, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abcès is recorded at frequency rank #27,675, classified as anoun, pronounced \ap.sɛ\. accès is at rank #765, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ak.sɛ\.

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 28440, this pair ranks #322,806 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abcès vs accès

Shared letters: acsè. Private to "abcès": b. Private to "accès": -.

"abcès" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "accès" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Frequency comparison

abcès#27,675
accès#765

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abcès" and "accès" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ap.sɛ\ versus \ak.sɛ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "abcès" or "accès"?
"accès" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #765 in our French list, against #27,675 for "abcès". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering abcès vs accès

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “abcès” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list