atomesvsatoursWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#12,309
“atomes” frequency rank
#43,281
“atours” frequency rank
55590
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature atomes atours
Definition Pluriel de atome. Pluriel de atour.

Where the eye mixes atomes and atours

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. atomes (VCVCVC) and atours (VCVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
atomes
6 ch
atours

Look-alike desk: atomes vs atours

A purely visual mix-up. atomes (\a.tom\) and atours (\a.tuʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55590, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

atomes is recorded at frequency rank #12,309, classified as anoun, pronounced \a.tom\. atours is at rank #43,281, tagged as anoun, pronounced \a.tuʁ\.

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 55590, this pair ranks #126,516 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of atomes vs atours

Shared letters: aost. Private to "atomes": em. Private to "atours": ru.

"atomes" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "atours" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • atomes ← aotmes · atmoes · atoems · atomess · atommes · atomse · attomes · taomes
  • atours ← aoturs · atorus · atourrs · atourss · atousr · attours · atuors · taours

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "atomes" and "atours" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\a.tom\ versus \a.tuʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "atomes" or "atours"?
"atomes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,309 in our French list, against #43,281 for "atours". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "atomes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "atours" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #126,516 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "atomes" and "atours" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "atos vs atours". 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 #126,516 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