Which to use
“candidate” and “candidats” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,283
- “candidate” frequency rank
- #1,695
- “candidats” frequency rank
- 8978
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | candidate | candidats |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Celle qui se propose pour un poste, une récompense, etc. (quel que soit le statut de cette proposition). | Pluriel de candidat. |
Where the eye mixes candidate and candidats
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. candidate (CVCCVCVCV) and candidats (CVCCVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: candidate vs candidats
A purely visual mix-up. candidate (\kɑ̃.di.dat\) and candidats (\kɑ̃.di.da\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - e in “candidate” becomes s in “candidats”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8978, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
candidate is recorded at frequency rank #7,283, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɑ̃.di.dat\. candidats is at rank #1,695, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɑ̃.di.da\.
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 8978, this pair ranks #418,211 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of candidate vs candidats
Shared letters: acdint. Private to "candidate": e. Private to "candidats": s.
"candidate" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV · "candidats" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "candidate" and "candidats" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "candidate" or "candidats"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "candidate" and "candidats" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "candidate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "candidats" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #418,211 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "candidate" and "candidats" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "candidate vs candide". 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 #418,211 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.