Which to use
“absence” and “absences” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,218
- “absence” frequency rank
- #16,529
- “absences” frequency rank
- 17747
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | absence | absences |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Inexistence. | Pluriel de absence. |
Same sound, different letters: absence vs absences
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. absence runs 7 letters (VCCVCCV) against absences's 8 (VCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - absence / absences
This is the hard kind. absence and absences are pronounced identically (\ap.sɑ̃s\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “absence” sits inside “absences”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17747, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
absence is recorded at frequency rank #1,218, classified as anoun, pronounced \ap.sɑ̃s\. absences is at rank #16,529, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ap.sɑ̃s\.
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 17747, this pair ranks #381,669 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of absence vs absences
Shared letters: abcens. Private to "absence": -. Private to "absences": -.
"absence" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "absences" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "absence" for "absences" ever safe?
Frequency check: "absence" vs "absences" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
You've separated the homophone pair "absence" / "absences". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "absence" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "absences" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #381,669 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "absence" and "absences" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "absences vs absenter". 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 #381,669 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.