cathédralevscathédralesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,917
“cathédrale” frequency rank
#21,882
“cathédrales” frequency rank
26799
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cathédrale cathédrales
Definition Église cathédrale, bâtiment et lieu de culte de la religion chrétienne, siège de l’évêché du diocèse. Pluriel de cathédrale.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cathédrale and cathédrales apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
cathédrale
11 ch
cathédrales

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. cathédrale and cathédrales are pronounced identically (\ka.te.dʁal\) 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) - “cathédrale” sits inside “cathédrales”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26799, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cathédrale is recorded at frequency rank #4,917, classified as anoun, pronounced \ka.te.dʁal\. cathédrales is at rank #21,882, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ka.te.dʁal\.

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 26799, this pair ranks #332,799 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cathédrale vs cathédrales

Shared letters: acdehlrté. Private to "cathédrale": -. Private to "cathédrales": s.

"cathédrale" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCV  ·  "cathédrales" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCVC

Frequency comparison

cathédrale#4,917
cathédrales#21,882

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cathédrale" and "cathédrales" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\ka.te.dʁal\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "cathédrale" or "cathédrales"?
"cathédrale" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,917 in our French list, against #21,882 for "cathédrales". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cathédrale vs cathédrales

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 “cathédrale” 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