échantillon vs échantillons, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#5,623
“échantillon” frequency rank: #7,511
“échantillons” frequency rank: 13134
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	échantillon	échantillons
Definition	Fragment ou partie d’un ensemble qui représente l’ensemble.	Pluriel de échantillon.

Where the spellings diverge

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

11 ch

échantillon

12 ch

échantillons

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. échantillon and échantillons are pronounced identically (\e.ʃɑ̃.ti.jɔ̃\) and both work as anoun. 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) - “échantillon” sits inside “échantillons”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13134, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

échantillon is recorded at frequency rank #5,623, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.ʃɑ̃.ti.jɔ̃\. échantillons is at rank #7,511, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.ʃɑ̃.ti.jɔ̃\.

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 13134, this pair ranks #402,283 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of échantillon vs échantillons

Shared letters: achilnoté. Private to "échantillon": -. Private to "échantillons": s.

"échantillon" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCVC · "échantillons" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCVCC

Frequency comparison

échantillon#5,623

échantillons#7,511

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "échantillon" and "échantillons" be used interchangeably?

No. They are pronounced the same (\e.ʃɑ̃.ti.jɔ̃\), 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, "échantillon" or "échantillons"?

"échantillon" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,623 in our French list, against #7,511 for "échantillons". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering échantillon vs échantillons

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 “échantillon” entry
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