hôtessevshôtessesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#17,448
“hôtesse” frequency rank
#29,387
“hôtesses” frequency rank
46835
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hôtesse hôtesses
Definition Femme qui reçoit dans sa demeure ou un lieu dont elle est responsable. Pluriel de hôtesse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hôtesse and hôtesses apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
hôtesse
8 ch
hôtesses

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. hôtesse (^((h muet))\o.tɛs\) and hôtesses (\ɔ.tɛs\) 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 extra letter(s) - “hôtesse” sits inside “hôtesses”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46835, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hôtesse is recorded at frequency rank #17,448, classified as anoun, pronounced ^((h muet))\o.tɛs\. hôtesses is at rank #29,387, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɔ.tɛs\.

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 46835, this pair ranks #191,689 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hôtesse vs hôtesses

Shared letters: ehstô. Private to "hôtesse": -. Private to "hôtesses": -.

"hôtesse" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "hôtesses" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Frequency comparison

hôtesse#17,448
hôtesses#29,387

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hôtesse" and "hôtesses" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (^((h muet))\o.tɛs\ versus \ɔ.tɛs\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hôtesse" or "hôtesses"?
"hôtesse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,448 in our French list, against #29,387 for "hôtesses". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hôtesse vs hôtesses

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 “hôtesse” 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