Which to use
“annual” and “annuels” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,736
- “annual” frequency rank
- #9,429
- “annuels” frequency rank
- 52165
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | annual | annuels |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Annuel. | Masculin pluriel de annuel. |
Where the eye mixes annual and annuels
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. annual runs 6 letters (VCCVVC) against annuels's 7 (VCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses annual with annuels
A purely visual mix-up. annual (\ˈæn.ju.əl\) and annuels (\a.nɥɛl\) 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 52165, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
annual is recorded at frequency rank #42,736, classified as anadj, pronounced \ˈæn.ju.əl\. annuels is at rank #9,429, tagged as anadj, pronounced \a.nɥɛl\.
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 52165, this pair ranks #149,678 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of annual vs annuels
Shared letters: alnu. Private to "annual": -. Private to "annuels": es.
"annual" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC · "annuels" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "annual" and "annuels" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "annual" or "annuels" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "annual" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "annuels" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #149,678 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "annual" and "annuels" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anal vs annual". 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 #149,678 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.