demoisellevsdemoisellesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: demoiselle is a adjective, demoiselles is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#8,527
“demoiselle” frequency rank
#17,108
“demoiselles” frequency rank
25635
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature demoiselle demoiselles
Definition Qualifie une fille ou femme qui n’est pas mariée. Pluriel de demoiselle.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set demoiselle and demoiselles apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
demoiselle
11 ch
demoiselles

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: demoiselle and demoiselles carry the same recorded pronunciation, \də.mwa.zɛl\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “demoiselle” sits inside “demoiselles”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25635, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

demoiselle is recorded at frequency rank #8,527, classified as anadj, pronounced \də.mwa.zɛl\. demoiselles is at rank #17,108, tagged as anoun, pronounced \də.mwa.zɛl\.

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 25635, this pair ranks #339,722 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of demoiselle vs demoiselles

Shared letters: deilmos. Private to "demoiselle": -. Private to "demoiselles": -.

"demoiselle" · 10 letters · shape CVCVVCVCCV  ·  "demoiselles" · 11 letters · shape CVCVVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • demoiselleddemoiselle · demioselle · demmoiselle · demoieslle · demoisele · demoiselel · demoislele · demoisselle
  • demoisellesddemoiselles · demioselles · demmoiselles · demoieslles · demoiselels · demoiseles · demoiselless · demoisellse

Frequency comparison

demoiselle#8,527
demoiselles#17,108

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "demoiselle" and "demoiselles" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "demoiselle" is an adjective and "demoiselles" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "demoiselle" or "demoiselles"?
"demoiselle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,527 in our French list, against #17,108 for "demoiselles". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering demoiselle vs demoiselles

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “demoiselle”; for a noun, it's “demoiselles”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “demoiselle” 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