aspergevsaspergesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#37,664
“asperge” frequency rank
#31,827
“asperges” frequency rank
69491
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature asperge asperges
Definition Plante potagère de la famille des liliacées (classification classique) ou asparagacées (classification phylogénétique) dont on mange les jeunes pousses (Asparagus officinalis L.). Variante de’' aspergès.

Same sound, different letters: asperge vs asperges

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters.

7 ch
asperge
8 ch
asperges

Same sound, different spelling - asperge / asperges

This is the hard kind. asperge and asperges are pronounced identically (\as.pɛʁʒ\) 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) - “asperge” sits inside “asperges”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69491, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

asperge is recorded at frequency rank #37,664, classified as anoun, pronounced \as.pɛʁʒ\. asperges is at rank #31,827, tagged as anoun, pronounced \as.pɛʁʒ\.

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 69491, this pair ranks #54,921 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of asperge vs asperges

Shared letters: aegprs. Private to "asperge": -. Private to "asperges": -.

"asperge" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV  ·  "asperges" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aspergeapserge · aseprge · aspegre · aspereg · aspergge · asperrge · aspperge · asprege
  • aspergesapserges · aseprges · aspegres · asperegs · aspergess · aspergges · aspergse · asperrges

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "asperge" for "asperges" ever safe?
No. They are pronounced the same (\as.pɛʁʒ\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Frequency check: "asperge" vs "asperges" - which ranks higher?
"asperges" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,827 in our French list, against #37,664 for "asperge". 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 "asperge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "asperges" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #54,921 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "asperge" and "asperges" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ampère vs asperge". 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 #54,921 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