flottantvsflottantesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#15,632
“flottant” frequency rank
#35,949
“flottantes” frequency rank
51581
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature flottant flottantes
Definition Qui flotte. Féminin pluriel de flottant.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set flottant and flottantes apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
flottant
10 ch
flottantes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. flottant (\flɔ.tɑ̃\) and flottantes (\flɔ.tɑ̃t\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “flottant” sits inside “flottantes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51581, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

flottant is recorded at frequency rank #15,632, classified as anadj, pronounced \flɔ.tɑ̃\. flottantes is at rank #35,949, tagged as anadj, pronounced \flɔ.tɑ̃t\.

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 51581, this pair ranks #153,955 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of flottant vs flottantes

Shared letters: aflnot. Private to "flottant": -. Private to "flottantes": es.

"flottant" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC  ·  "flottantes" · 10 letters · shape CCVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • flottantfflottant · fllottant · flotant · flotatnt · flottannt · flottantt · flottatn · flottnat
  • flottantesfflottantes · fllottantes · flotantes · flotatntes · flottanets · flottanntes · flottantess · flottantse

Frequency comparison

flottant#15,632
flottantes#35,949

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "flottant" and "flottantes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\flɔ.tɑ̃\ versus \flɔ.tɑ̃t\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "flottant" or "flottantes"?
"flottant" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,632 in our French list, against #35,949 for "flottantes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering flottant vs flottantes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “flottant” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list