galèrevsgaleriesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,063
“galère” frequency rank
#7,570
“galeries” frequency rank
14633
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature galère galeries
Definition Vaisseau de forme allongée, allant à rames et à voiles. Pluriel de galerie.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set galère and galeries apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
galère
8 ch
galeries

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. galère (\ɡa.lɛʁ\) and galeries (\ɡal.ʁi\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14633, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

galère is recorded at frequency rank #7,063, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡa.lɛʁ\. galeries is at rank #7,570, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡal.ʁi\.

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 14633, this pair ranks #395,834 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of galère vs galeries

Shared letters: aeglr. Private to "galère": è. Private to "galeries": is.

"galère" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "galeries" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • galeriesagleries · gaelries · galeires · galereis · galeriess · galerise · galerries · galleries

Frequency comparison

galère#7,063
galeries#7,570

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "galère" and "galeries" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɡa.lɛʁ\ versus \ɡal.ʁi\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "galère" or "galeries"?
"galère" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,063 in our French list, against #7,570 for "galeries". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering galère vs galeries

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 “galère” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list