cristallinevscristallinesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#30,550
“cristalline” frequency rank
#46,684
“cristallines” frequency rank
77234
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cristalline cristallines
Definition Féminin singulier de cristallin. Féminin pluriel de cristallin.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cristalline and cristallines apart are highlighted. They share 11 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

11 ch
cristalline
12 ch
cristallines

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. cristalline and cristallines are pronounced identically (\kʁis.ta.lin\) 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) - “cristalline” sits inside “cristallines”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77234, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cristalline is recorded at frequency rank #30,550, classified as anadj, pronounced \kʁis.ta.lin\. cristallines is at rank #46,684, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kʁis.ta.lin\.

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 77234, this pair ranks #28,983 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cristalline vs cristallines

Shared letters: aceilnrst. Private to "cristalline": -. Private to "cristallines": -.

"cristalline" · 11 letters · shape CCVCCVCCVCV  ·  "cristallines" · 12 letters · shape CCVCCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cristallineccristalline · cirstalline · crisatlline · crisstalline · cristalilne · cristaline · cristallien · cristallinne
  • cristallinesccristallines · cirstallines · crisatllines · crisstallines · cristalilnes · cristalines · cristalliens · cristalliness

Frequency comparison

cristalline#30,550
cristallines#46,684

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cristalline" and "cristallines" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\kʁis.ta.lin\), 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, "cristalline" or "cristallines"?
"cristalline" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,550 in our French list, against #46,684 for "cristallines". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cristalline vs cristallines

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 “cristalline” 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