Which to use
“explicatifs” and “explicative” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,602
- “explicatifs” frequency rank
- #34,532
- “explicative” frequency rank
- 80134
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | explicatifs | explicative |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de explicatif. | Féminin singulier de explicatif. |
Where the eye mixes explicatifs and explicative
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses explicatifs with explicative
A purely visual mix-up. explicatifs (\ɛks.pli.ka.tif\) and explicative (\ɛks.pli.ka.tiv\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80134, 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\. explicative is at rank #34,532, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛks.pli.ka.tiv\.
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 80134, this pair ranks #21,658 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of explicatifs vs explicative
Shared letters: aceilptx. Private to "explicatifs": fs. Private to "explicative": v.
"explicatifs" · 11 letters · shape VCCCVCVCVCC · "explicative" · 11 letters · shape VCCCVCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- explicatifs ← epxlicatifs · exlpicatifs · expilcatifs · explciatifs · expliactifs · explicaitfs · explicatfis · explicatiffs
- explicative ← epxlicative · exlpicative · expilcative · explciative · expliactive · explicaitve · explicatiev · explicativve
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "explicatifs" and "explicative" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "explicatifs" or "explicative" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "explicatifs" and "explicative" 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 "explicative" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #21,658 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "explicatifs" and "explicative" 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 #21,658 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.