contrôlesvscontrôleursWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,542
“contrôles” frequency rank
#13,554
“contrôleurs” frequency rank
19096
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contrôles contrôleurs
Definition Pluriel de contrôle. Pluriel de contrôleur.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set contrôles and contrôleurs apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
contrôles
11 ch
contrôleurs

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. contrôles (\kɔ̃.tʁol\) and contrôleurs (\kɔ̃.tʁo.lœʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19096, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contrôles is recorded at frequency rank #5,542, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.tʁol\. contrôleurs is at rank #13,554, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.tʁo.lœʁ\.

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 19096, this pair ranks #375,033 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of contrôles vs contrôleurs

Shared letters: celnorstô. Private to "contrôles": -. Private to "contrôleurs": u.

"contrôles" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC  ·  "contrôleurs" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCVVCC

Frequency comparison

contrôles#5,542
contrôleurs#13,554

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "contrôles" and "contrôleurs" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kɔ̃.tʁol\ versus \kɔ̃.tʁo.lœʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "contrôles" or "contrôleurs"?
"contrôles" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,542 in our French list, against #13,554 for "contrôleurs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering contrôles vs contrôleurs

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 “contrôles” 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