étonnantevsétonnantsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,980
“étonnante” frequency rank
#28,422
“étonnants” frequency rank
39402
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature étonnante étonnants
Definition Féminin singulier de étonnant. Masculin pluriel de étonnant.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set étonnante and étonnants apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
étonnante
9 ch
étonnants

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. étonnante (\e.tɔ.nɑ̃t\) and étonnants (\e.tɔ.nɑ̃\) 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 a single letter - e in “étonnante” becomes s in “étonnants”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39402, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

étonnante is recorded at frequency rank #10,980, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.tɔ.nɑ̃t\. étonnants is at rank #28,422, tagged as anadj, pronounced \e.tɔ.nɑ̃\.

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 39402, this pair ranks #248,234 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of étonnante vs étonnants

Shared letters: anoté. Private to "étonnante": e. Private to "étonnants": s.

"étonnante" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVCCV  ·  "étonnants" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVCCC

Frequency comparison

étonnante#10,980
étonnants#28,422

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "étonnante" and "étonnants" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\e.tɔ.nɑ̃t\ versus \e.tɔ.nɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "étonnante" or "étonnants"?
"étonnante" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,980 in our French list, against #28,422 for "étonnants". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering étonnante vs étonnants

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 “étonnante” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list