annuelvsannulerTell them apart

Quick tell: annuel is a adjective, annuler is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“annuel” is an adjective and “annuler” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,658
“annuel” frequency rank
#5,725
“annuler” frequency rank
9383
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature annuel annuler
Definition Qui dure un an. Rendre nul.

Where the eye mixes annuel and annuler

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. annuel runs 6 letters (VCCVVC) against annuler's 7 (VCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
annuel
7 ch
annuler

Visual trap between annuel and annuler

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: annuel is \a.nɥɛl\ while annuler is \a.ny.le\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9383, 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\. annuler is at rank #5,725, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.ny.le\.

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 9383, this pair ranks #416,843 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of annuel vs annuler

Shared letters: aelnu. Private to "annuel": -. Private to "annuler": r.

"annuel" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC  ·  "annuler" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • annuel ← anneul · annuell · annule · anuel · anunel · nanuel
  • annuler ← annluer · annuelr · annulerr · annuller · annulre · anuler · anunler · nanuler

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "annuel" and "annuler" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "annuel" is an adjective and "annuler" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "annuel" vs "annuler" - which ranks higher?
"annuel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,658 in our French list, against #5,725 for "annuler". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "annuel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "annuler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #416,843 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "annuel" and "annuler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "annual vs annuel". 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 #416,843 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