laboratoirevslaboratoiresWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,011
“laboratoire” frequency rank
#7,853
“laboratoires” frequency rank
10864
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature laboratoire laboratoires
Definition Lieu d'exercice de chercheurs où sont réalisées des observations ou des expériences, ainsi que toute autre activité scientifique. Pluriel de laboratoire.

Where the spellings diverge

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

11 ch
laboratoire
12 ch
laboratoires

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. laboratoire and laboratoires are pronounced identically (\la.bɔ.ʁa.twaʁ\) 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) - “laboratoire” sits inside “laboratoires”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10864, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

laboratoire is recorded at frequency rank #3,011, classified as anoun, pronounced \la.bɔ.ʁa.twaʁ\. laboratoires is at rank #7,853, tagged as anoun, pronounced \la.bɔ.ʁa.twaʁ\.

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 10864, this pair ranks #411,379 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of laboratoire vs laboratoires

Shared letters: abeilort. Private to "laboratoire": -. Private to "laboratoires": s.

"laboratoire" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCVCVVCV  ·  "laboratoires" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCVCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • laboratoirealboratoire · labboratoire · laboartoire · laboraotire · laboratiore · laboratoier · laboratoirre · laboratorie
  • laboratoiresalboratoires · labboratoires · laboartoires · laboraotires · laboratiores · laboratoiers · laboratoiress · laboratoirres

Frequency comparison

laboratoire#3,011
laboratoires#7,853

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "laboratoire" and "laboratoires" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\la.bɔ.ʁa.twaʁ\), 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, "laboratoire" or "laboratoires"?
"laboratoire" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,011 in our French list, against #7,853 for "laboratoires". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering laboratoire vs laboratoires

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 “laboratoire” 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