Which to use
“enfer” and “enfers” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,775
- “enfer” frequency rank
- #14,031
- “enfers” frequency rank
- 16806
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | enfer | enfers |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Séjour des morts, avant le christianisme. | Pluriel de enfer. |
Same sound, different letters: enfer vs enfers
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters. enfer runs 5 letters (VCCVC) against enfers's 6 (VCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - enfer / enfers
This is the hard kind. enfer and enfers are pronounced identically (\ɑ̃.fɛʁ\) 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) - “enfer” sits inside “enfers”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16806, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
enfer is recorded at frequency rank #2,775, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃.fɛʁ\. enfers is at rank #14,031, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃.fɛʁ\.
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 16806, this pair ranks #386,161 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of enfer vs enfers
Shared letters: efnr. Private to "enfer": -. Private to "enfers": s.
"enfer" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "enfers" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "enfer" and "enfers" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "enfer" vs "enfers" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "enfer" / "enfers". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "enfer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "enfers" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #386,161 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "enfer" and "enfers" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "enfers vs enter". 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 #386,161 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.