Which to use
“éclairage” and “éclairages” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,260
- “éclairage” frequency rank
- #28,800
- “éclairages” frequency rank
- 35060
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | éclairage | éclairages |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Action d’éclairer ; distribution de la lumière naturelle ou artificielle. | Pluriel de éclairage. |
Same sound, different letters: éclairage vs éclairages
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 9 letters. éclairage runs 9 letters (VCCVVCVCV) against éclairages's 10 (VCCVVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: éclairage vs éclairages
This is the hard kind. éclairage and éclairages are pronounced identically (\e.klɛ.ʁaʒ\) 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) - “éclairage” sits inside “éclairages”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35060, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
éclairage is recorded at frequency rank #6,260, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.klɛ.ʁaʒ\. éclairages is at rank #28,800, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.klɛ.ʁaʒ\.
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 35060, this pair ranks #279,494 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of éclairage vs éclairages
Shared letters: acegilré. Private to "éclairage": -. Private to "éclairages": s.
"éclairage" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCVCV · "éclairages" · 10 letters · shape VCCVVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "éclairage" for "éclairages" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "éclairage" or "éclairages" show up more?
What to do next
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "éclairage" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "éclairages" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #279,494 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "éclairage" and "éclairages" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "éclairages vs éclaircies". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #279,494 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.