cuilleréevscuillèresWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#49,014
“cuillerée” frequency rank
#27,760
“cuillères” frequency rank
76774
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cuillerée cuillères
Definition Ce que contient une cuillère. Pluriel de cuillère.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cuillerée and cuillères apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
cuillerée
9 ch
cuillères

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cuillerée (\kɥij.ʁe\) and cuillères (\kɥi.jɛʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76774, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cuillerée is recorded at frequency rank #49,014, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɥij.ʁe\. cuillères is at rank #27,760, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɥi.jɛʁ\.

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 76774, this pair ranks #30,200 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cuillerée vs cuillères

Shared letters: ceilru. Private to "cuillerée": é. Private to "cuillères": .

"cuillerée" · 9 letters · shape CVVCCVCVV  ·  "cuillères" · 9 letters · shape CVVCCVCVC

Frequency comparison

cuillerée#49,014
cuillères#27,760

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cuillerée" and "cuillères" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kɥij.ʁe\ versus \kɥi.jɛʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cuillerée" or "cuillères"?
"cuillères" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,760 in our French list, against #49,014 for "cuillerée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cuillerée vs cuillères

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 “cuillerée” 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