illustrateurvsillustrateursWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#27,475
“illustrateur” frequency rank
#41,338
“illustrateurs” frequency rank
68813
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature illustrateur illustrateurs
Definition Celui qui illustre, qui dessine, qui compose des illustrations pour les livres, les journaux, les revues. Pluriel de illustrateur.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set illustrateur and illustrateurs apart are highlighted. They share 12 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

12 ch
illustrateur
13 ch
illustrateurs

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. illustrateur and illustrateurs are pronounced identically (\i.lys.tʁa.tœʁ\) 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) - “illustrateur” sits inside “illustrateurs”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68813, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

illustrateur is recorded at frequency rank #27,475, classified as anoun, pronounced \i.lys.tʁa.tœʁ\. illustrateurs is at rank #41,338, tagged as anoun, pronounced \i.lys.tʁa.tœʁ\.

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 68813, this pair ranks #57,584 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of illustrateur vs illustrateurs

Shared letters: aeilrstu. Private to "illustrateur": -. Private to "illustrateurs": -.

"illustrateur" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCCCVCVVC  ·  "illustrateurs" · 13 letters · shape VCCVCCCVCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • illustrateurillsutrateur · illusrtateur · illusstrateur · illustarteur · illustraetur · illustrateru · illustrateurr · illustratteur
  • illustrateursillsutrateurs · illusrtateurs · illusstrateurs · illustarteurs · illustraeturs · illustraterus · illustrateurrs · illustrateurss

Frequency comparison

illustrateur#27,475
illustrateurs#41,338

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "illustrateur" and "illustrateurs" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\i.lys.tʁa.tœʁ\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "illustrateur" or "illustrateurs"?
"illustrateur" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,475 in our French list, against #41,338 for "illustrateurs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering illustrateur vs illustrateurs

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 “illustrateur” 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