carriervscarrièresWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“carrier” and “carrières” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#23,130
“carrier” frequency rank
#8,351
“carrières” frequency rank
31481
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature carrier carrières
Definition Celui qui exploite une carrière ou qui travaille dans une carrière. Pluriel de carrière.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set carrier and carrières apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
carrier
9 ch
carrières

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. carrier (\ka.ʁje\) and carrières (\ka.ʁjɛʁ\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31481, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

carrier is recorded at frequency rank #23,130, classified as anoun, pronounced \ka.ʁje\. carrières is at rank #8,351, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ka.ʁjɛʁ\.

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 31481, this pair ranks #303,535 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of carrier vs carrières

Shared letters: aceir. Private to "carrier": -. Private to "carrières": .

"carrier" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "carrières" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • carrieracrrier · carier · carirer · carreir · carrierr · carrire · ccarrier · crarier

Frequency comparison

carrier#23,130
carrières#8,351

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "carrier" and "carrières" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ka.ʁje\ versus \ka.ʁjɛʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "carrier" or "carrières"?
"carrières" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,351 in our French list, against #23,130 for "carrier". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering carrier vs carrières

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “carrier” 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