cavaliervscavaliersWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#8,968
“cavalier” frequency rank
#9,793
“cavaliers” frequency rank
18761
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cavalier cavaliers
Definition Celui qui monte à cheval. Masculin pluriel de cavalier.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cavalier and cavaliers apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
cavalier
9 ch
cavaliers

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: cavalier and cavaliers carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ka.va.lje\. 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) - “cavalier” sits inside “cavaliers”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18761, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cavalier is recorded at frequency rank #8,968, classified as anoun, pronounced \ka.va.lje\. cavaliers is at rank #9,793, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ka.va.lje\.

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 18761, this pair ranks #376,700 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cavalier vs cavaliers

Shared letters: aceilrv. Private to "cavalier": -. Private to "cavaliers": s.

"cavalier" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC  ·  "cavaliers" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cavalieracvalier · caavlier · cavailer · cavaleir · cavalierr · cavalire · cavallier · cavlaier
  • cavaliersacvaliers · caavliers · cavailers · cavaleirs · cavalierrs · cavalierss · cavaliesr · cavalires

Frequency comparison

cavalier#8,968
cavaliers#9,793

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cavalier" and "cavaliers" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cavalier" is a noun and "cavaliers" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cavalier" or "cavaliers"?
"cavalier" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,968 in our French list, against #9,793 for "cavaliers". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cavalier vs cavaliers

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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