Which to use
“explicatifs” is an adjective and “explications” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #45,602
- “explicatifs” frequency rank
- #4,329
- “explications” frequency rank
- 49931
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | explicatifs | explications |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de explicatif. | Pluriel de explication. |
Where the eye mixes explicatifs and explications
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: explicatifs vs explications
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: explicatifs is \ɛks.pli.ka.tif\ while explications is \ɛks.pli.ka.sjɔ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49931, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
explicatifs is recorded at frequency rank #45,602, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛks.pli.ka.tif\. explications is at rank #4,329, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛks.pli.ka.sjɔ̃\.
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 49931, this pair ranks #166,704 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of explicatifs vs explications
Shared letters: aceilpstx. Private to "explicatifs": f. Private to "explications": no.
"explicatifs" · 11 letters · shape VCCCVCVCVCC · "explications" · 12 letters · shape VCCCVCVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- explicatifs ← epxlicatifs · exlpicatifs · expilcatifs · explciatifs · expliactifs · explicaitfs · explicatfis · explicatiffs
- explications ← epxlications · exlpications · expilcations · explciations · expliactions · explicaitons · explicatinos · explicationns
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "explicatifs" and "explications" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "explicatifs" or "explications" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "explicatifs" and "explications" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "explicatifs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "explications" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #166,704 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "explicatifs" and "explications" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "explicatifs vs explicatives". 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 #166,704 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.