auquelvsauxquellesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,216
“auquel” frequency rank
#5,523
“auxquelles” frequency rank
7739
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature auquel auxquelles
Definition Pronom relatif qui remplace le nom et établit le lien avec la proposition relative. Féminin pluriel de auquel.

Same sound, different letters: auquel vs auxquelles

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. auquel runs 6 letters (VVCVVC) against auxquelles's 10 (VVCCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
auquel
10 ch
auxquelles

Same sound, different spelling - auquel / auxquelles

This is the hard kind. auquel and auxquelles are pronounced identically (\o.kɛl\) and both work as apronoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 4 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7739, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

auquel is recorded at frequency rank #2,216, classified as apron, pronounced \o.kɛl\. auxquelles is at rank #5,523, tagged as apron, pronounced \o.kɛl\.

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 7739, this pair ranks #422,272 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of auquel vs auxquelles

Shared letters: aelqu. Private to "auquel": -. Private to "auxquelles": sx.

"auquel" · 6 letters · shape VVCVVC  ·  "auxquelles" · 10 letters · shape VVCCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • auquel ← aquuel · auqeul · auqquel · auquell · auqule · auuqel · uaquel
  • auxquelles ← auqxuelles · auxqeulles · auxqquelles · auxquelels · auxqueles · auxquelless · auxquellse · auxquleles

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "auquel" and "auxquelles" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are pronounced the same (\o.kɛl\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Frequency check: "auquel" vs "auxquelles" - which ranks higher?
"auquel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,216 in our French list, against #5,523 for "auxquelles". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

"auquel" and "auxquelles" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.

  • Full dictionary entry for "auquel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "auxquelles" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #422,272 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "auquel" and "auxquelles" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "auquel vs Aurel". 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 #422,272 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