Which to use
“écrivain” and “écrivains” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,116
- “écrivain” frequency rank
- #5,941
- “écrivains” frequency rank
- 9057
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | écrivain | écrivains |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Celui dont le métier est d’écrire pour autrui. | Pluriel de écrivain. |
Same sound, different letters: écrivain vs écrivains
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 8 letters.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
This is the hard kind. écrivain and écrivains are pronounced identically (\e.kʁi.vɛ̃\) 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) - “écrivain” sits inside “écrivains”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9057, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
écrivain is recorded at frequency rank #3,116, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.kʁi.vɛ̃\. écrivains is at rank #5,941, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.kʁi.vɛ̃\.
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 9057, this pair ranks #417,939 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of écrivain vs écrivains
Shared letters: acinrvé. Private to "écrivain": -. Private to "écrivains": s.
"écrivain" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVVC · "écrivains" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "écrivain" and "écrivains" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "écrivain" or "écrivains"?
What to do next
You've compared "écrivain" and "écrivains". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "écrivain" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "écrivains" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #417,939 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "écrivain" and "écrivains" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "écrivains vs écrivons". Nearby pair
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.