erreurvserreursWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,026
“erreur” frequency rank
#2,123
“erreurs” frequency rank
3149
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erreur erreurs
Definition Fausse opinion ; fausse doctrine. Pluriel de erreur.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set erreur and erreurs apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
erreur
7 ch
erreurs

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. erreur and erreurs are pronounced identically (\ɛ.ʁœʁ\) 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) - “erreur” sits inside “erreurs”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3149, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erreur is recorded at frequency rank #1,026, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛ.ʁœʁ\. erreurs is at rank #2,123, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛ.ʁœʁ\.

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 3149, this pair ranks #434,682 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erreur vs erreurs

Shared letters: eru. Private to "erreur": -. Private to "erreurs": s.

"erreur" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC  ·  "erreurs" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erreurererur · ereur · erreru · erreurr · erruer · rereur
  • erreursererurs · ereurs · errerus · erreurrs · erreurss · erreusr · erruers · rereurs

Frequency comparison

erreur#1,026
erreurs#2,123

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "erreur" and "erreurs" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\ɛ.ʁœʁ\), 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, "erreur" or "erreurs"?
"erreur" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,026 in our French list, against #2,123 for "erreurs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering erreur vs erreurs

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 “erreur” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list