Which to use
“essai” and “essais” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,277
- “essai” frequency rank
- #2,877
- “essais” frequency rank
- 5154
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | essai | essais |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Test, examen, épreuve de solidité, de pérennité, d’adéquation, de potabilité, de comestibilité, etc. | Pluriel de essai. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set essai and essais apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. essai (\e.sɛ\) and essais (\ɛ.sɛ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “essai” sits inside “essais”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5154, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
essai is recorded at frequency rank #2,277, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.sɛ\. essais is at rank #2,877, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛ.sɛ\.
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 5154, this pair ranks #429,758 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of essai vs essais
Shared letters: aeis. Private to "essai": -. Private to "essais": -.
"essai" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV · "essais" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "essai" and "essais" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "essai" or "essais"?
Remembering essai vs essais
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 “essai” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable