Which to use
“imprévu” and “imprévues” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,318
- “imprévu” frequency rank
- #40,810
- “imprévues” frequency rank
- 60128
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | imprévu | imprévues |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qu’on n’avait pas prévu ; qui n'est pas conforme à des prévisions ou à un plan. | Féminin pluriel de imprévu. |
Same sound, different letters: imprévu vs imprévues
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. imprévu runs 7 letters (VCCCVCV) against imprévues's 9 (VCCCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - imprévu / imprévues
This is the hard kind. imprévu and imprévues are pronounced identically (\ɛ̃.pʁe.vy\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “imprévu” sits inside “imprévues”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60128, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
imprévu is recorded at frequency rank #19,318, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.pʁe.vy\. imprévues is at rank #40,810, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.pʁe.vy\.
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 60128, this pair ranks #99,316 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of imprévu vs imprévues
Shared letters: impruvé. Private to "imprévu": -. Private to "imprévues": es.
"imprévu" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV · "imprévues" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "imprévu" for "imprévues" ever safe?
Which is more common, "imprévu" or "imprévues"?
What to do next
"imprévu" and "imprévues" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "imprévu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "imprévues" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #99,316 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "imprévu" and "imprévues" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "imprégnés vs imprévues". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #99,316 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.