anniversairevsanniversairesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,429
“anniversaire” frequency rank
#17,618
“anniversaires” frequency rank
19047
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature anniversaire anniversaires
Definition Retour annuel d’un jour marqué par un événement. Pluriel de anniversaire.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set anniversaire and anniversaires apart are highlighted. They share 12 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

12 ch
anniversaire
13 ch
anniversaires

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. anniversaire and anniversaires are pronounced identically (\a.ni.vɛʁ.sɛʁ\) 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) - “anniversaire” sits inside “anniversaires”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19047, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

anniversaire is recorded at frequency rank #1,429, classified as anoun, pronounced \a.ni.vɛʁ.sɛʁ\. anniversaires is at rank #17,618, tagged as anoun, pronounced \a.ni.vɛʁ.sɛʁ\.

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 19047, this pair ranks #375,309 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of anniversaire vs anniversaires

Shared letters: aeinrsv. Private to "anniversaire": -. Private to "anniversaires": -.

"anniversaire" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCVCCVVCV  ·  "anniversaires" · 13 letters · shape VCCVCVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • anniversaireaninversaire · aniversaire · annievrsaire · anniverasire · anniverrsaire · anniversaier · anniversairre · anniversarie
  • anniversairesaninversaires · aniversaires · annievrsaires · anniverasires · anniverrsaires · anniversaiers · anniversairess · anniversairres

Frequency comparison

anniversaire#1,429
anniversaires#17,618

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "anniversaire" and "anniversaires" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\a.ni.vɛʁ.sɛʁ\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "anniversaire" or "anniversaires"?
"anniversaire" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,429 in our French list, against #17,618 for "anniversaires". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering anniversaire vs anniversaires

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 “anniversaire” 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