Which to use
“coefficient” and “coefficients” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,534
- “coefficient” frequency rank
- #21,571
- “coefficients” frequency rank
- 34105
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coefficient | coefficients |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Efficient, qui produit un effet. | Masculin pluriel de coefficient. |
Same sound, different letters: coefficient vs coefficients
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 11 letters. coefficient runs 11 letters (CVVCCVCVVCC) against coefficients's 12 (CVVCCVCVVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: coefficient vs coefficients
This is the hard kind. coefficient and coefficients are pronounced identically (\ko.e.fi.sjɑ̃\) and both work as anadjective. 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) - “coefficient” sits inside “coefficients”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34105, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
coefficient is recorded at frequency rank #12,534, classified as anadj, pronounced \ko.e.fi.sjɑ̃\. coefficients is at rank #21,571, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ko.e.fi.sjɑ̃\.
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 34105, this pair ranks #286,130 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of coefficient vs coefficients
Shared letters: cefinot. Private to "coefficient": -. Private to "coefficients": s.
"coefficient" · 11 letters · shape CVVCCVCVVCC · "coefficients" · 12 letters · shape CVVCCVCVVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- coefficient ← ccoefficient · ceofficient · coeffciient · coefficcient · coefficeint · coefficiennt · coefficientt · coefficietn
- coefficients ← ccoefficients · ceofficients · coeffciients · coefficcients · coefficeints · coefficiennts · coefficienst · coefficientss
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "coefficient" for "coefficients" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "coefficient" or "coefficients" show up more?
What to do next
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "coefficient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coefficients" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #286,130 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #286,130 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.