exigencesvsexistencesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,859
“exigences” frequency rank
#38,791
“existences” frequency rank
43650
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature exigences existences
Definition Pluriel de exigence. Pluriel de existence.

Where the eye mixes exigences and existences

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. exigences runs 9 letters (VCVCVCCVC) against existences's 10 (VCVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
exigences
10 ch
existences

Visual trap between exigences and existences

A purely visual mix-up. exigences (\ɛɡ.zi.ʒɑ̃s\) and existences (\ɛɡ.zis.tɑ̃s\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43650, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

exigences is recorded at frequency rank #4,859, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛɡ.zi.ʒɑ̃s\. existences is at rank #38,791, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛɡ.zis.tɑ̃s\.

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 43650, this pair ranks #216,430 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of exigences vs existences

Shared letters: ceinsx. Private to "exigences": g. Private to "existences": t.

"exigences" · 9 letters · shape VCVCVCCVC  ·  "existences" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • exigences ← eixgences · exgiences · exiegnces · exigecnes · exigencces · exigencess · exigencse · exigenecs
  • existences ← eixstences · exisetnces · exisstences · existecnes · existencces · existencess · existencse · existenecs

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "exigences" and "existences" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ɛɡ.zi.ʒɑ̃s\ versus \ɛɡ.zis.tɑ̃s\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "exigences" or "existences" show up more?
"exigences" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,859 in our French list, against #38,791 for "existences". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "exigences" and "existences" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "exigences" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "existences" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #216,430 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "exigences" and "existences" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "existantes vs existences". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #216,430 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list