annuelvsannuelsTell them apart

Which to use

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

#3,658
“annuel” frequency rank
#9,429
“annuels” frequency rank
13087
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature annuel annuels
Definition Qui dure un an. Masculin pluriel de annuel.

Same sound, different letters: annuel vs annuels

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. annuel 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.

6 ch
annuel
7 ch
annuels

Ear matches; page differs - annuel and annuels

This is the hard kind. annuel and annuels are pronounced identically (\a.nɥɛl\) and both work as anadjective. 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) - “annuel” sits inside “annuels”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13087, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

annuel is recorded at frequency rank #3,658, classified as anadj, pronounced \a.nɥɛl\. 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 13087, this pair ranks #402,495 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of annuel vs annuels

Shared letters: aelnu. Private to "annuel": -. Private to "annuels": s.

"annuel" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC  ·  "annuels" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • annuel ← anneul · annuell · annule · anuel · anunel · nanuel
  • annuels ← anneuls · annuells · annuelss · annuesl · annules · anuels · anunels · nanuels

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "annuel" and "annuels" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\a.nɥɛl\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Frequency check: "annuel" vs "annuels" - which ranks higher?
"annuel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,658 in our French list, against #9,429 for "annuels". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've separated the homophone pair "annuel" / "annuels". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.

  • Full dictionary entry for "annuel" 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 #402,495 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "annuel" and "annuels" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "annual vs annuels". 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 #402,495 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list