Which to use
“étang” and “étangs” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,159
- “étang” frequency rank
- #19,723
- “étangs” frequency rank
- 30882
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | étang | étangs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Grand amas d’eau retenu par une chaussée naturelle ou artificielle. | Pluriel de étang. |
Same sound, different letters: étang vs étangs
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters.
Same sound, different spelling - étang / étangs
This is the hard kind. étang and étangs are pronounced identically (\e.tɑ̃\) 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) - “étang” sits inside “étangs”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30882, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
étang is recorded at frequency rank #11,159, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.tɑ̃\. étangs is at rank #19,723, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.tɑ̃\.
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 30882, this pair ranks #307,396 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of étang vs étangs
Shared letters: agnté. Private to "étang": -. Private to "étangs": s.
"étang" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC · "étangs" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "étang" and "étangs" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "étang" vs "étangs" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've separated the homophone pair "étang" / "étangs". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "étang" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étangs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #307,396 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "étang" and "étangs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "étai vs étang". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #307,396 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.