Which to use
“étroit” and “étroits” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,421
- “étroit” frequency rank
- #16,283
- “étroits” frequency rank
- 25704
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | étroit | étroits |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | De petite largeur. | Masculin pluriel de étroit. |
Same sound, different letters: étroit vs étroits
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. étroit runs 6 letters (VCCVVC) against étroits's 7 (VCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - étroit / étroits
This is the hard kind. étroit and étroits are pronounced identically (\e.tʁwa\) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “étroit” sits inside “étroits”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25704, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
étroit is recorded at frequency rank #9,421, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.tʁwa\. étroits is at rank #16,283, tagged as anadj, pronounced \e.tʁwa\.
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 25704, this pair ranks #339,346 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of étroit vs étroits
Shared letters: iorté. Private to "étroit": -. Private to "étroits": s.
"étroit" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC · "étroits" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "étroit" for "étroits" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "étroit" or "étroits" show up more?
What to do next
"étroit" and "étroits" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "étroit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étroits" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #339,346 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "étroit" and "étroits" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "étroites vs étroits". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #339,346 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.