leurrevsleursWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: leurre is a noun, leurs is a determiner, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“leurre” is a noun and “leurs” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,184
“leurre” frequency rank
#126
“leurs” frequency rank
20310
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leurre leurs
Definition Morceau de cuir rouge en forme d’oiseau, dont les fauconniers se servaient pour appeler les oiseaux de fauconnerie lorsqu’ils ne revenaient pas au réclame. Troisième personne du pluriel. Qui sont à eux. Plusieurs possesseurs et plusieurs objets.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set leurre and leurs apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
leurre
5 ch
leurs

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: leurre and leurs carry the same recorded pronunciation, \lœʁ\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other adeterminer, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20310, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leurre is recorded at frequency rank #20,184, classified as anoun, pronounced \lœʁ\. leurs is at rank #126, tagged as adet, pronounced \lœʁ\.

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 20310, this pair ranks #368,914 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of leurre vs leurs

Shared letters: elru. Private to "leurre": -. Private to "leurs": s.

"leurre" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "leurs" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leurreelurre · lerure · leure · leurer · lleurre · luerre
  • leurselurs · lerus · leurrs · leurss · leusr · lleurs · luers

Frequency comparison

leurre#20,184
leurs#126

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leurre" and "leurs" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "leurre" is a noun and "leurs" a determiner, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "leurre" or "leurs"?
"leurs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #126 in our French list, against #20,184 for "leurre". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering leurre vs leurs

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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