existencevsexistencesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,564
“existence” frequency rank
#38,791
“existences” frequency rank
40355
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature existence existences
Definition Fait d’être, état de ce qui existe ; par exemple le fait d’être d’une manière absolue, ou pour la perception, ou encore pour la conscience. Pluriel de existence.

Same sound, different letters: existence vs existences

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 9 letters.

9 ch
existence
10 ch
existences

Same sound, different spelling - existence / existences

This is the hard kind. existence and existences are pronounced identically (\ɛɡ.zis.tɑ̃s\) 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) - “existence” sits inside “existences”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40355, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

existence is recorded at frequency rank #1,564, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛɡ.zis.tɑ̃s\. 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 40355, this pair ranks #241,146 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of existence vs existences

Shared letters: ceinstx. Private to "existence": -. Private to "existences": -.

"existence" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVCCV  ·  "existences" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • existenceeixstence · exisetnce · exisstence · existecne · existencce · existenec · existennce · existnece
  • existenceseixstences · exisetnces · exisstences · existecnes · existencces · existencess · existencse · existenecs

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "existence" and "existences" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are pronounced the same (\ɛɡ.zis.tɑ̃s\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Frequency check: "existence" vs "existences" - which ranks higher?
"existence" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,564 in our French list, against #38,791 for "existences". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.

  • Full dictionary entry for "existence" 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 #241,146 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "existence" 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 #241,146 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