Which to use
“fédéral” and “fédéraux” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,617
- “fédéral” frequency rank
- #9,843
- “fédéraux” frequency rank
- 12460
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fédéral | fédéraux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui a rapport à une fédération d’États ou à une fédération de plusieurs sociétés visant un but commun. | Masculin pluriel de fédéral. |
Where the eye mixes fédéral and fédéraux
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. fédéral runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against fédéraux's 8 (CVCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between fédéral and fédéraux
A purely visual mix-up. fédéral (\fe.de.ʁal\) and fédéraux (\fe.de.ʁo\) 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 12460, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fédéral is recorded at frequency rank #2,617, classified as anadj, pronounced \fe.de.ʁal\. fédéraux is at rank #9,843, tagged as anadj, pronounced \fe.de.ʁo\.
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 12460, this pair ranks #405,180 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fédéral vs fédéraux
Shared letters: adfré. Private to "fédéral": l. Private to "fédéraux": ux.
"fédéral" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "fédéraux" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fédéral" and "fédéraux" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "fédéral" vs "fédéraux" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fédéral" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fédéraux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #405,180 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fédéral" and "fédéraux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fédéral vs fedora". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #405,180 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.