empruntvsempruntsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“emprunt” and “emprunts” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#7,311
“emprunt” frequency rank
#10,696
“emprunts” frequency rank
18007
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature emprunt emprunts
Definition Action ou chose qu'on emprunte. Pluriel de emprunt.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set emprunt and emprunts apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
emprunt
8 ch
emprunts

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. emprunt and emprunts are pronounced identically (\ɑ̃.pʁœ̃\) 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) - “emprunt” sits inside “emprunts”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18007, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

emprunt is recorded at frequency rank #7,311, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃.pʁœ̃\. emprunts is at rank #10,696, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃.pʁœ̃\.

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 18007, this pair ranks #380,429 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of emprunt vs emprunts

Shared letters: emnprtu. Private to "emprunt": -. Private to "emprunts": s.

"emprunt" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCC  ·  "emprunts" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • empruntemmprunt · empprunt · emprnut · emprrunt · emprunnt · empruntt · emprutn · empurnt
  • empruntsemmprunts · empprunts · emprnuts · emprrunts · emprunnts · emprunst · empruntss · empruntts

Frequency comparison

emprunt#7,311
emprunts#10,696

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "emprunt" and "emprunts" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\ɑ̃.pʁœ̃\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "emprunt" or "emprunts"?
"emprunt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,311 in our French list, against #10,696 for "emprunts". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering emprunt vs emprunts

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “emprunt” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list