esclavevsesclavesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: esclave is a noun, esclaves is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“esclave” is a noun and “esclaves” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,391
“esclave” frequency rank
#4,753
“esclaves” frequency rank
11144
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature esclave esclaves
Definition Celui ou celle qui par sa naissance ou par sa capture n’est pas de condition libre ou que la violence a mis sous la puissance absolue d’un maître. Pluriel de esclave.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
esclave
8 ch
esclaves

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: esclave and esclaves carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ɛs.klav\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “esclave” sits inside “esclaves”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11144, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

esclave is recorded at frequency rank #6,391, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛs.klav\. esclaves is at rank #4,753, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛs.klaːv\.

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 11144, this pair ranks #410,290 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of esclave vs esclaves

Shared letters: acelsv. Private to "esclave": -. Private to "esclaves": -.

"esclave" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV  ·  "esclaves" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • esclaveecslave · escalve · escclave · esclaev · esclavve · escllave · esclvae · eslcave
  • esclavesecslaves · escalves · escclaves · esclaevs · esclavess · esclavse · esclavves · escllaves

Frequency comparison

esclave#6,391
esclaves#4,753

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "esclave" and "esclaves" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "esclave" is a noun and "esclaves" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "esclave" or "esclaves"?
"esclaves" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,753 in our French list, against #6,391 for "esclave". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering esclave vs esclaves

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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