Which to use
“barbecue” and “barbecues” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,608
- “barbecue” frequency rank
- #35,392
- “barbecues” frequency rank
- 45000
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | barbecue | barbecues |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Gril de plein air. | Pluriel de barbecue. |
Same sound, different letters: barbecue vs barbecues
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 8 letters.
Ear matches; page differs - barbecue and barbecues
This is the hard kind. barbecue and barbecues are pronounced identically (\baʁ.bə.kju\) 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) - “barbecue” sits inside “barbecues”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45000, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
barbecue is recorded at frequency rank #9,608, classified as anoun, pronounced \baʁ.bə.kju\. barbecues is at rank #35,392, tagged as anoun, pronounced \baʁ.bə.kju\.
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 45000, this pair ranks #206,166 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of barbecue vs barbecues
Shared letters: abceru. Private to "barbecue": -. Private to "barbecues": s.
"barbecue" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV · "barbecues" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "barbecue" for "barbecues" ever safe?
Frequency check: "barbecue" vs "barbecues" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "barbecue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "barbecues" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #206,166 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "barbecue" and "barbecues" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "barbecues vs barbelés". 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 #206,166 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.