clochardvsclochardsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#24,152
“clochard” frequency rank
#38,203
“clochards” frequency rank
62355
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature clochard clochards
Definition Personne sans domicile fixe qui mène une vie de mendicité, qui refuse les contraintes sociales ou est contrainte à la misère. Pluriel de clochard.

Where the spellings diverge

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

8 ch
clochard
9 ch
clochards

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. clochard and clochards are pronounced identically (\klɔ.ʃaʁ\) 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) - “clochard” sits inside “clochards”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62355, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

clochard is recorded at frequency rank #24,152, classified as anoun, pronounced \klɔ.ʃaʁ\. clochards is at rank #38,203, tagged as anoun, pronounced \klɔ.ʃaʁ\.

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 62355, this pair ranks #87,583 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of clochard vs clochards

Shared letters: acdhlor. Private to "clochard": -. Private to "clochards": s.

"clochard" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC  ·  "clochards" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • clochardcclochard · clcohard · cllochard · clocahrd · clocchard · clochadr · clochardd · clocharrd
  • clochardscclochards · clcohards · cllochards · clocahrds · clocchards · clochadrs · clochardds · clochardss

Frequency comparison

clochard#24,152
clochards#38,203

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "clochard" and "clochards" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\klɔ.ʃaʁ\), 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, "clochard" or "clochards"?
"clochard" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,152 in our French list, against #38,203 for "clochards". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering clochard vs clochards

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 “clochard” 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