alléesvsalluresWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,270
“allées” frequency rank
#15,301
“allures” frequency rank
25571
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature allées allures
Definition Pluriel de allée. Pluriel de allure.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
allées
7 ch
allures

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. allées (\a.le\) and allures (\a.lyʁ\) 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 25571, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

allées is recorded at frequency rank #10,270, classified as anoun, pronounced \a.le\. allures is at rank #15,301, tagged as anoun, pronounced \a.lyʁ\.

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 25571, this pair ranks #340,094 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of allées vs allures

Shared letters: aels. Private to "allées": é. Private to "allures": ru.

"allées" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC  ·  "allures" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alluresallrues · alluers · alluress · allurres · allurse · alulres · alures · lalures

Frequency comparison

allées#10,270
allures#15,301

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "allées" and "allures" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\a.le\ versus \a.lyʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "allées" or "allures"?
"allées" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,270 in our French list, against #15,301 for "allures". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering allées vs allures

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 “allées” 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