Which to use
“collègue” and “collègues” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,743
- “collègue” frequency rank
- #2,611
- “collègues” frequency rank
- 6354
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | collègue | collègues |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Personne qui exerce la même profession ou qui travaille dans la même organisation qu’une autre. | Pluriel de collègue. |
Same sound, different letters: collègue vs collègues
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 8 letters. collègue runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVV) against collègues's 9 (CVCCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - collègue and collègues
This is the hard kind. collègue and collègues are pronounced identically (\kɔ.lɛɡ\) 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) - “collègue” sits inside “collègues”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6354, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
collègue is recorded at frequency rank #3,743, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.lɛɡ\. collègues is at rank #2,611, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.lɛɡ\.
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 6354, this pair ranks #426,476 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of collègue vs collègues
Shared letters: ceglouè. Private to "collègue": -. Private to "collègues": s.
"collègue" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV · "collègues" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "collègue" and "collègues" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "collègue" or "collègues"?
After this comparison
"collègue" and "collègues" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "collègue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "collègues" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #426,476 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "collègue" and "collègues" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "collégien vs collègue". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #426,476 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.