argumentvsargumentsConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#3,983
“argument” frequency rank
#4,039
“arguments” frequency rank
8022
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature argument arguments
Definition Raisonnement construit selon certaines règles, par lequel on tire méthodiquement une conséquence d’une ou de plusieurs propositions. Pluriel de argument.

Same sound, different letters: argument vs arguments

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 8 letters.

8 ch
argument
9 ch
arguments

Ear matches; page differs - argument and arguments

This is the hard kind. argument and arguments are pronounced identically (\aʁ.ɡy.mɑ̃\) 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) - “argument” sits inside “arguments”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8022, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

argument is recorded at frequency rank #3,983, classified as anoun, pronounced \aʁ.ɡy.mɑ̃\. arguments is at rank #4,039, tagged as anoun, pronounced \aʁ.ɡy.mɑ̃\.

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 8022, this pair ranks #421,374 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of argument vs arguments

Shared letters: aegmnrtu. Private to "argument": -. Private to "arguments": s.

"argument" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC  ·  "arguments" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • argumentagrument · arggument · argmuent · arguemnt · argumennt · argumentt · argumetn · argumment
  • argumentsagruments · argguments · argmuents · arguemnts · argumennts · argumenst · argumentss · argumentts

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "argument" and "arguments" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are pronounced the same (\aʁ.ɡy.mɑ̃\), 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, "argument" or "arguments"?
"argument" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,983 in our French list, against #4,039 for "arguments". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.

  • Full dictionary entry for "argument" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "arguments" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #421,374 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "argument" and "arguments" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "argents vs arguments". 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 #421,374 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