bargevsbargesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: barge is a noun, barges is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“barge” is a noun and “barges” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,069
“barge” frequency rank
#45,466
“barges” frequency rank
73535
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature barge barges
Definition Oiseau limicole du genre Limosa. Pluriel de barge.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set barge and barges apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
barge
6 ch
barges

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: barge and barges carry the same recorded pronunciation, \baʁʒ\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “barge” sits inside “barges”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73535, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

barge is recorded at frequency rank #28,069, classified as anoun, pronounced \baʁʒ\. barges is at rank #45,466, tagged as anadj, pronounced \baʁʒ\.

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 73535, this pair ranks #40,132 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of barge vs barges

Shared letters: abegr. Private to "barge": -. Private to "barges": s.

"barge" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "barges" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bargeabrge · bagre · bareg · bargge · barrge · bbarge · brage
  • bargesabrges · bagres · baregs · bargess · bargges · bargse · barrges · bbarges

Frequency comparison

barge#28,069
barges#45,466

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "barge" and "barges" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "barge" is a noun and "barges" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "barge" or "barges"?
"barge" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,069 in our French list, against #45,466 for "barges". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering barge vs barges

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “barge”; for an adjective, it's “barges”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “barge” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list