Which to use
“explicatifs” and “explicatives” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,602
- “explicatifs” frequency rank
- #49,647
- “explicatives” frequency rank
- 95249
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | explicatifs | explicatives |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de explicatif. | Féminin pluriel de explicatif. |
Where the eye mixes explicatifs and explicatives
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses explicatifs with explicatives
A purely visual mix-up. explicatifs (\ɛks.pli.ka.tif\) and explicatives (\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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 95249, 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\. explicatives is at rank #49,647, 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 95249, this pair ranks #1,185 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of explicatifs vs explicatives
Shared letters: aceilpstx. Private to "explicatifs": f. Private to "explicatives": v.
"explicatifs" · 11 letters · shape VCCCVCVCVCC · "explicatives" · 12 letters · shape VCCCVCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- explicatifs ← epxlicatifs · exlpicatifs · expilcatifs · explciatifs · expliactifs · explicaitfs · explicatfis · explicatiffs
- explicatives ← epxlicatives · exlpicatives · expilcatives · explciatives · expliactives · explicaitves · explicatievs · explicativess
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "explicatifs" for "explicatives" ever safe?
Which is more common, "explicatifs" or "explicatives"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "explicatifs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "explicatives" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,185 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "explicatifs" and "explicatives" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "explicative 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 #1,185 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.