Which to use
“effect” and “effects” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,129
- “effect” frequency rank
- #35,918
- “effects” frequency rank
- 56047
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | effect | effects |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Résultat, suite, aboutissement. | Pluriel de effect. |
Where the eye mixes effect and effects
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses effect with effects
A purely visual mix-up. effect (\ɪ.ˈfɛkt\) and effects (\ɪ.ˈfɛkts\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “effect” sits inside “effects”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56047, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
effect is recorded at frequency rank #20,129, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɪ.ˈfɛkt\. effects is at rank #35,918, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɪ.ˈfɛkts\.
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 56047, this pair ranks #123,569 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of effect vs effects
Shared letters: ceft. Private to "effect": -. Private to "effects": s.
"effect" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC · "effects" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "effect" and "effects" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "effect" or "effects"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "effect" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "effects" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #123,569 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "effect" and "effects" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "effects vs effectua". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #123,569 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.