bordurevsborduresWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#8,206
“bordure” frequency rank
#29,252
“bordures” frequency rank
37458
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bordure bordures
Definition Ce qui garnit, orne ou renforce le bord de quelque chose. Pluriel de bordure.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set bordure and bordures apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
bordure
8 ch
bordures

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: bordure and bordures carry the same recorded pronunciation, \bɔʁ.dyʁ\. 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) - “bordure” sits inside “bordures”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37458, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bordure is recorded at frequency rank #8,206, classified as anoun, pronounced \bɔʁ.dyʁ\. bordures is at rank #29,252, tagged as anadj, pronounced \bɔʁ.dyʁ\.

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 37458, this pair ranks #262,375 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of bordure vs bordures

Shared letters: bdeoru. Private to "bordure": -. Private to "bordures": s.

"bordure" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "bordures" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bordurebbordure · bodrure · borddure · bordrue · borduer · bordurre · borrdure · borudre
  • borduresbbordures · bodrures · borddures · bordrues · borduers · borduress · bordurres · bordurse

Frequency comparison

bordure#8,206
bordures#29,252

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bordure" and "bordures" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bordure" is a noun and "bordures" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "bordure" or "bordures"?
"bordure" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,206 in our French list, against #29,252 for "bordures". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering bordure vs bordures

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “bordure”; for an adjective, it's “bordures”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “bordure” 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