Which to use
“instance” and “instances” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,681
- “instance” frequency rank
- #7,196
- “instances” frequency rank
- 11877
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | instance | instances |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Sollicitation pressante. | Pluriel de instance. |
Same sound, different letters: instance vs instances
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 8 letters.
Ear matches; page differs - instance and instances
This is the hard kind. instance and instances are pronounced identically (\ɛ̃s.tɑ̃s\) 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) - “instance” sits inside “instances”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11877, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
instance is recorded at frequency rank #4,681, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃s.tɑ̃s\. instances is at rank #7,196, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃s.tɑ̃s\.
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 11877, this pair ranks #407,488 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of instance vs instances
Shared letters: aceinst. Private to "instance": -. Private to "instances": -.
"instance" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCCV · "instances" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "instance" and "instances" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "instance" or "instances" show up more?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "instance" / "instances". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "instance" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "instances" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #407,488 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "instance" and "instances" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "installes vs instances". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #407,488 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.