charlatanvscharlatansWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: charlatan is a adjective, charlatans is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#32,733
“charlatan” frequency rank
#34,019
“charlatans” frequency rank
66752
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature charlatan charlatans
Definition Qui a des manières ou qui utilise des procédés de charlatan. Pluriel de charlatan.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set charlatan and charlatans apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
charlatan
10 ch
charlatans

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: charlatan and charlatans carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ʃaʁ.la.tɑ̃\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “charlatan” sits inside “charlatans”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66752, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

charlatan is recorded at frequency rank #32,733, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʃaʁ.la.tɑ̃\. charlatans is at rank #34,019, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃaʁ.la.tɑ̃\.

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 66752, this pair ranks #66,416 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of charlatan vs charlatans

Shared letters: achlnrt. Private to "charlatan": -. Private to "charlatans": s.

"charlatan" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCVCVC  ·  "charlatans" · 10 letters · shape CCVCCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • charlatancahrlatan · ccharlatan · chalratan · charaltan · charlaatn · charlatann · charlatna · charlattan
  • charlatanscahrlatans · ccharlatans · chalratans · charaltans · charlaatns · charlatanns · charlatanss · charlatasn

Frequency comparison

charlatan#32,733
charlatans#34,019

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "charlatan" and "charlatans" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "charlatan" is an adjective and "charlatans" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "charlatan" or "charlatans"?
"charlatan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,733 in our French list, against #34,019 for "charlatans". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering charlatan vs charlatans

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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