choisirvschoisisWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: choisir is a verb, choisis is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“choisir” is a verb and “choisis” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,322
“choisir” frequency rank
#3,741
“choisis” frequency rank
5063
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature choisir choisis
Definition Faire un choix ; prendre une personne ou une chose de préférence à une autre ou à plusieurs autres. Masculin pluriel de choisi.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
choisir
7 ch
choisis

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: choisir is \ʃwa.ziʁ\ while choisis is \ʃwa.zi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - r in “choisir” becomes s in “choisis”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5063, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

choisir is recorded at frequency rank #1,322, classified as averb, pronounced \ʃwa.ziʁ\. choisis is at rank #3,741, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʃwa.zi\.

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 5063, this pair ranks #430,010 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of choisir vs choisis

Shared letters: chios. Private to "choisir": r. Private to "choisis": -.

"choisir" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC  ·  "choisis" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • choisircchoisir · chhoisir · chiosir · choiisr · choisirr · choisri · choissir · chosiir
  • choisiscchoisis · chhoisis · chiosis · choiiss · choisiss · choissis · chosiis · cohisis

Frequency comparison

choisir#1,322
choisis#3,741

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "choisir" and "choisis" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "choisir" is a verb and "choisis" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "choisir" or "choisis"?
"choisir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,322 in our French list, against #3,741 for "choisis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering choisir vs choisis

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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