Which to use
“espèce” and “espèces” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,027
- “espèce” frequency rank
- #1,864
- “espèces” frequency rank
- 2891
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | espèce | espèces |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Image ; aspect ; apparence. | Pluriel de espèce. |
Same sound, different letters: espèce vs espèces
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. espèce runs 6 letters (VCCVCV) against espèces's 7 (VCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - espèce and espèces
This is the hard kind. espèce and espèces are pronounced identically (\ɛs.pɛs\) 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) - “espèce” sits inside “espèces”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2891, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
espèce is recorded at frequency rank #1,027, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛs.pɛs\. espèces is at rank #1,864, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛs.pɛs\.
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 2891, this pair ranks #435,274 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of espèce vs espèces
Shared letters: cepsè. Private to "espèce": -. Private to "espèces": -.
"espèce" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "espèces" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "espèce" for "espèces" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "espèce" or "espèces" show up more?
After this comparison
"espèce" and "espèces" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "espèce" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "espèces" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #435,274 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "espèce" and "espèces" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "espèces vs espérée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #435,274 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.