Which to use
“héréditaire” and “héréditaires” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,149
- “héréditaire” frequency rank
- #32,439
- “héréditaires” frequency rank
- 48588
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | héréditaire | héréditaires |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui se transmet par droit de succession, relatif à l'héritage. | Pluriel de héréditaire. |
Same sound, different letters: héréditaire vs héréditaires
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 11 letters.
Homophone desk: héréditaire vs héréditaires
This is the hard kind. héréditaire and héréditaires are pronounced identically (\e.ʁe.di.tɛʁ\) and both work as anadjective. 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) - “héréditaire” sits inside “héréditaires”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48588, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
héréditaire is recorded at frequency rank #16,149, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.ʁe.di.tɛʁ\. héréditaires is at rank #32,439, tagged as anadj, pronounced \e.ʁe.di.tɛʁ\.
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 48588, this pair ranks #177,711 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of héréditaire vs héréditaires
Shared letters: adehirté. Private to "héréditaire": -. Private to "héréditaires": s.
"héréditaire" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCVCVVCV · "héréditaires" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCVCVVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "héréditaire" for "héréditaires" ever safe?
Frequency check: "héréditaire" vs "héréditaires" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've separated the homophone pair "héréditaire" / "héréditaires". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "héréditaire" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "héréditaires" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #177,711 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
Confusion rank #177,711 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.