espagnolevsEspagnolsTell them apart

Which to use

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

#4,754
“espagnole” frequency rank
#5,033
“Espagnols” frequency rank
9787
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature espagnole Espagnols
Definition Sauce de base, de couleur brune. Pluriel de Espagnol.

Same sound, different letters: espagnole vs Espagnols

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 8 letters. espagnole (VCCVCCVCV) and Espagnols (VCCVCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
espagnole
9 ch
Espagnols

Ear matches; page differs - espagnole and Espagnols

This is the hard kind. espagnole and Espagnols are pronounced identically (\ɛs.pa.ɲɔl\) 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 a single letter - e in “espagnole” becomes s in “Espagnols”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9787, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

espagnole is recorded at frequency rank #4,754, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛs.pa.ɲɔl\. Espagnols is at rank #5,033, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛs.pa.ɲɔl\.

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 9787, this pair ranks #415,407 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of espagnole vs Espagnols

Shared letters: aeglnops. Private to "espagnole": -. Private to "Espagnols": -.

"espagnole" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV  ·  "Espagnols" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • espagnole ← epsagnole · esapgnole · espaggnole · espagnloe · espagnnole · espagnoel · espagnolle · espagonle
  • Espagnols ← epsagnols · esapgnols · espaggnols · espagnlos · espagnnols · espagnolls · espagnolss · espagnosl

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "espagnole" and "Espagnols" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\ɛs.pa.ɲɔl\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Frequency check: "espagnole" vs "Espagnols" - which ranks higher?
"espagnole" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,754 in our French list, against #5,033 for "Espagnols". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've separated the homophone pair "espagnole" / "Espagnols". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.

  • Full dictionary entry for "espagnole" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Espagnols" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #415,407 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "espagnole" and "Espagnols" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Espagnols vs español". 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 #415,407 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list