Which to use
“effectifs” and “effective” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,448
- “effectifs” frequency rank
- #9,990
- “effective” frequency rank
- 15438
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | effectifs | effective |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de effectif. | Féminin singulier de effectif. |
Where the eye mixes effectifs and effective
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: effectifs vs effective
A purely visual mix-up. effectifs (\e.fɛk.tif\) and effective (\e.fɛk.tiv\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15438, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
effectifs is recorded at frequency rank #5,448, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.fɛk.tif\. effective is at rank #9,990, tagged as anadj, pronounced \e.fɛk.tiv\.
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 15438, this pair ranks #392,359 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of effectifs vs effective
Shared letters: cefit. Private to "effectifs": s. Private to "effective": v.
"effectifs" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC · "effective" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "effectifs" and "effective" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "effectifs" or "effective" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "effectifs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "effective" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #392,359 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "effectifs" and "effective" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "effective vs élective". 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 #392,359 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.