acteursvsautoursWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,617
“acteurs” frequency rank
#35,819
“autours” frequency rank
37436
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature acteurs autours
Definition Pluriel de acteur. Pluriel de autour.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set acteurs and autours apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
acteurs
7 ch
autours

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. acteurs (\ak.tœʁ\) and autours (\o.tuʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37436, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

acteurs is recorded at frequency rank #1,617, classified as anoun, pronounced \ak.tœʁ\. autours is at rank #35,819, tagged as anoun, pronounced \o.tuʁ\.

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 37436, this pair ranks #262,543 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of acteurs vs autours

Shared letters: arstu. Private to "acteurs": ce. Private to "autours": o.

"acteurs" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCC  ·  "autours" · 7 letters · shape VVCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • acteursaccteurs · aceturs · acterus · acteurrs · acteurss · acteusr · actteurs · actuers
  • autoursatuours · auoturs · autorus · autourrs · autourss · autousr · auttours · autuors

Frequency comparison

acteurs#1,617
autours#35,819

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "acteurs" and "autours" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ak.tœʁ\ versus \o.tuʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "acteurs" or "autours"?
"acteurs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,617 in our French list, against #35,819 for "autours". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering acteurs vs autours

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 “acteurs” 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