empruntervsemprunteursWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: emprunter is a verb, emprunteurs is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“emprunter” is a verb and “emprunteurs” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,612
“emprunter” frequency rank
#36,823
“emprunteurs” frequency rank
43435
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature emprunter emprunteurs
Definition Demander et recevoir en prêt, obtenir à titre de prêt. Pluriel de emprunteur.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set emprunter and emprunteurs apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
emprunter
11 ch
emprunteurs

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: emprunter is \ɑ̃.pʁœ̃.te\ while emprunteurs is \ɑ̃.pʁœ̃.tœʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43435, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

emprunter is recorded at frequency rank #6,612, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.pʁœ̃.te\. emprunteurs is at rank #36,823, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃.pʁœ̃.tœʁ\.

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 43435, this pair ranks #218,082 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of emprunter vs emprunteurs

Shared letters: emnprtu. Private to "emprunter": -. Private to "emprunteurs": s.

"emprunter" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC  ·  "emprunteurs" · 11 letters · shape VCCCVCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • emprunteremmprunter · empprunter · emprnuter · emprrunter · emprunetr · emprunnter · emprunterr · empruntre
  • emprunteursemmprunteurs · empprunteurs · emprnuteurs · emprrunteurs · empruneturs · emprunnteurs · emprunterus · emprunteurrs

Frequency comparison

emprunter#6,612
emprunteurs#36,823

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "emprunter" and "emprunteurs" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "emprunter" is a verb and "emprunteurs" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "emprunter" or "emprunteurs"?
"emprunter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,612 in our French list, against #36,823 for "emprunteurs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering emprunter vs emprunteurs

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “emprunter”; for a noun, it's “emprunteurs”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “emprunter” 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