cèdrevscèdresWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#28,508
“cèdre” frequency rank
#41,212
“cèdres” frequency rank
69720
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cèdre cèdres
Definition Espèce d’arbre du genre Cedrus, conifère de grande taille de la famille des Pinacées, aux branches horizontales en plans superposés et à cônes globuleux et dressés, souvent utilisé pour l’ornementation et dont le bois passe pour incorruptible. Pluriel de cèdre

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cèdre and cèdres apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
cèdre
6 ch
cèdres

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. cèdre and cèdres are pronounced identically (\sɛdʁ\) 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) - “cèdre” sits inside “cèdres”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69720, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cèdre is recorded at frequency rank #28,508, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɛdʁ\. cèdres is at rank #41,212, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɛdʁ\.

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 69720, this pair ranks #54,079 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cèdre vs cèdres

Shared letters: cderè. Private to "cèdre": -. Private to "cèdres": s.

"cèdre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "cèdres" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Frequency comparison

cèdre#28,508
cèdres#41,212

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cèdre" and "cèdres" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\sɛdʁ\), 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, "cèdre" or "cèdres"?
"cèdre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,508 in our French list, against #41,212 for "cèdres". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cèdre vs cèdres

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 “cèdre” 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