flottantesvsflottantsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#35,949
“flottantes” frequency rank
#28,173
“flottants” frequency rank
64122
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature flottantes flottants
Definition Féminin pluriel de flottant. Masculin pluriel de flottant.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set flottantes and flottants apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
flottantes
9 ch
flottants

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. flottantes (\flɔ.tɑ̃t\) and flottants (\flɔ.tɑ̃\) 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 64122, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

flottantes is recorded at frequency rank #35,949, classified as anadj, pronounced \flɔ.tɑ̃t\. flottants is at rank #28,173, tagged as anadj, pronounced \flɔ.tɑ̃\.

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 64122, this pair ranks #78,583 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of flottantes vs flottants

Shared letters: aflnost. Private to "flottantes": e. Private to "flottants": -.

"flottantes" · 10 letters · shape CCVCCVCCVC  ·  "flottants" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • flottantesfflottantes · fllottantes · flotantes · flotatntes · flottanets · flottanntes · flottantess · flottantse
  • flottantsfflottants · fllottants · flotants · flotatnts · flottannts · flottanst · flottantss · flottantts

Frequency comparison

flottantes#35,949
flottants#28,173

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "flottantes" and "flottants" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\flɔ.tɑ̃t\ versus \flɔ.tɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "flottantes" or "flottants"?
"flottants" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,173 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 flottantes vs flottants

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 “flottantes” 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