Which to use
“année” and “années” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #173
- “année” frequency rank
- #189
- “années” frequency rank
- 362
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | année | années |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Subdivision du temps, correspondant à la durée d’une révolution de la Terre autour du Soleil, qui comporte 365 jours (ou 366 jours dans l’année bissextile), 52 semaines environ, 12 mois solaires. | Décennie commençant en multiple de dix. |
Same sound, different letters: année vs années
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters. année runs 5 letters (VCCVV) against années's 6 (VCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - année / années
This is the hard kind. année and années are pronounced identically (\a.ne\) 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) - “année” sits inside “années”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 362, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
année is recorded at frequency rank #173, classified as anoun, pronounced \a.ne\. années is at rank #189, tagged as anoun, pronounced \a.ne\.
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 362, this pair ranks #439,754 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of année vs années
Shared letters: aené. Private to "année": -. Private to "années": s.
"année" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV · "années" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "année" and "années" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "année" or "années"?
After this comparison
"année" and "années" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "année" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "années" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #439,754 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "année" and "années" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abonnées vs années". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #439,754 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.