Which to use
“effets” and “efforts” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,258
- “effets” frequency rank
- #1,700
- “efforts” frequency rank
- 2958
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | effets | efforts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de effet. | Pluriel de effort. |
Where the eye mixes effets and efforts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses effets with efforts
A purely visual mix-up. effets (\e.fɛ\) and efforts (\e.fɔʁ\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2958, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
effets is recorded at frequency rank #1,258, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.fɛ\. efforts is at rank #1,700, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.fɔʁ\.
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 2958, this pair ranks #435,109 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of effets vs efforts
Shared letters: efst. Private to "effets": -. Private to "efforts": or.
"effets" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC · "efforts" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "effets" for "efforts" ever safe?
Frequency check: "effets" vs "efforts" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "effets" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "efforts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #435,109 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "effets" and "efforts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "effects vs efforts". 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 #435,109 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.