Which to use
“avancer” is a verb and “avances” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,503
- “avancer” frequency rank
- #10,998
- “avances” frequency rank
- 13501
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | avancer | avances |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pousser en avant ; porter en avant. | Premières recherches ou premières démarches pour amener une réconciliation, un accommodement, un traité, voire pour former une liaison d’amour ou d’amitié. |
Where the eye mixes avancer and avances
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses avancer with avances
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: avancer is \a.vɑ̃.se\ while avances is \a.vɑ̃s\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - r in “avancer” becomes s in “avances”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13501, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
avancer is recorded at frequency rank #2,503, classified as averb, pronounced \a.vɑ̃.se\. avances is at rank #10,998, tagged as anoun, pronounced \a.vɑ̃s\.
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 13501, this pair ranks #400,768 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of avancer vs avances
Shared letters: acenv. Private to "avancer": r. Private to "avances": s.
"avancer" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC · "avances" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "avancer" for "avances" ever safe?
Frequency check: "avancer" vs "avances" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "avancer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "avances" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #400,768 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "avancer" and "avances" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "advance vs avances". 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 #400,768 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.