importateurvsimportateursWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: importateur is a adjective, importateurs is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“importateur” is an adjective and “importateurs” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,647
“importateur” frequency rank
#33,298
“importateurs” frequency rank
63945
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature importateur importateurs
Definition Qui fait de l’importation. Pluriel de importateur.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set importateur and importateurs apart are highlighted. They share 11 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

11 ch
importateur
12 ch
importateurs

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: importateur and importateurs carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ta.tœʁ\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “importateur” sits inside “importateurs”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63945, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

importateur is recorded at frequency rank #30,647, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ta.tœʁ\. importateurs is at rank #33,298, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃.pɔʁ.ta.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 63945, this pair ranks #79,409 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of importateur vs importateurs

Shared letters: aeimoprtu. Private to "importateur": -. Private to "importateurs": s.

"importateur" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVVC  ·  "importateurs" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • importateurimmportateur · imoprtateur · imporatteur · imporrtateur · importaetur · importateru · importateurr · importatteur
  • importateursimmportateurs · imoprtateurs · imporatteurs · imporrtateurs · importaeturs · importaterus · importateurrs · importateurss

Frequency comparison

importateur#30,647
importateurs#33,298

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "importateur" and "importateurs" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "importateur" is an adjective and "importateurs" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "importateur" or "importateurs"?
"importateur" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,647 in our French list, against #33,298 for "importateurs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering importateur vs importateurs

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “importateur”; for a noun, it's “importateurs”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “importateur” 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