Which to use
“hareng” and “harengs” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,877
- “hareng” frequency rank
- #49,696
- “harengs” frequency rank
- 86573
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hareng | harengs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Poisson de la famille des clupéidés d’à peu près 25 cm de long, au corps fin et pourvu d’une petite bouche, au corps bleuté sur le dessus et argenté en-dessous, qui ne se pêche que dans l’océan et en certaines saisons de l’année, où il arrive par bancs. | Pluriel de hareng. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hareng and harengs apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
This is the hard kind. hareng and harengs are pronounced identically (^((h aspiré))\a.ʁɑ̃\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “hareng” sits inside “harengs”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 86573, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hareng is recorded at frequency rank #36,877, classified as anoun, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\a.ʁɑ̃\. harengs is at rank #49,696, tagged as anoun, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\a.ʁɑ̃\.
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 86573, this pair ranks #9,520 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of hareng vs harengs
Shared letters: aeghnr. Private to "hareng": -. Private to "harengs": s.
"hareng" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "harengs" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hareng" and "harengs" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "hareng" or "harengs"?
Remembering hareng vs harengs
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 “hareng” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable