Which to use
“éternel” and “éternelles” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,577
- “éternel” frequency rank
- #33,091
- “éternelles” frequency rank
- 39668
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | éternel | éternelles |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui n’a pas eu de commencement et n’aura jamais de fin. | Féminin pluriel de éternel. |
Same sound, different letters: éternel vs éternelles
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. éternel runs 7 letters (VCVCCVC) against éternelles's 10 (VCVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - éternel and éternelles
This is the hard kind. éternel and éternelles are pronounced identically (\e.tɛʁ.nɛl\) and both work as anadjective. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 3 extra letter(s) - “éternel” sits inside “éternelles”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39668, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
éternel is recorded at frequency rank #6,577, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.tɛʁ.nɛl\. éternelles is at rank #33,091, tagged as anadj, pronounced \e.tɛʁ.nɛl\.
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 39668, this pair ranks #246,283 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of éternel vs éternelles
Shared letters: elnrté. Private to "éternel": -. Private to "éternelles": s.
"éternel" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC · "éternelles" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "éternel" for "éternelles" ever safe?
Which is more common, "éternel" or "éternelles"?
What to do next
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "éternel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "éternelles" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #246,283 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "éternel" and "éternelles" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "éternelles vs éternels". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #246,283 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.