comparsesvscomprisesWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: comparses is a noun, comprises is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#41,187
“comparses” frequency rank
#13,139
“comprises” frequency rank
54326
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature comparses comprises
Definition Pluriel de comparse. Féminin pluriel de compris.

Where the eye mixes comparses and comprises

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

9 ch
comparses
9 ch
comprises

Why the eye confuses comparses with comprises

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: comparses is \kɔ̃.paʁs\ while comprises is \kɔ̃.pʁiz\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54326, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

comparses is recorded at frequency rank #41,187, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.paʁs\. comprises is at rank #13,139, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kɔ̃.pʁiz\.

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 54326, this pair ranks #134,774 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of comparses vs comprises

Shared letters: cemoprs. Private to "comparses": a. Private to "comprises": i.

"comparses" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "comprises" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • comparsesccomparses · cmoparses · comaprses · commparses · comparess · comparrses · comparsess · comparsse
  • comprisesccomprises · cmoprises · commprises · compirses · compprises · compriess · comprisess · comprisses

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "comparses" and "comprises" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "comparses" is a noun and "comprises" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "comparses" or "comprises" show up more?
"comprises" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,139 in our French list, against #41,187 for "comparses". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "comparses" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "comprises" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #134,774 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "comparses" and "comprises" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "companies vs comparses". Nearby pair
  • 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 #134,774 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list