Which to use
“malheureuse” is a noun and “malheureuses” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,612
- “malheureuse” frequency rank
- #34,608
- “malheureuses” frequency rank
- 46220
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | malheureuse | malheureuses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Celle qui subit un malheur ; personne éprouvée, affaiblie. | Féminin pluriel de malheureux. |
Same sound, different letters: malheureuse vs malheureuses
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 11 letters. malheureuse runs 11 letters (CVCCVVCVVCV) against malheureuses's 12 (CVCCVVCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - malheureuse and malheureuses
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: malheureuse and malheureuses carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ma.lœ.ʁøz\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “malheureuse” sits inside “malheureuses”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46220, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
malheureuse is recorded at frequency rank #11,612, classified as anoun, pronounced \ma.lœ.ʁøz\. malheureuses is at rank #34,608, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ma.lœ.ʁøz\.
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 46220, this pair ranks #196,656 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of malheureuse vs malheureuses
Shared letters: aehlmrsu. Private to "malheureuse": -. Private to "malheureuses": -.
"malheureuse" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVVCVVCV · "malheureuses" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- malheureuse ← amlheureuse · mahleureuse · malehureuse · malherueuse · malheueruse · malheuresue · malheureues · malheureusse
- malheureuses ← amlheureuses · mahleureuses · malehureuses · malherueuses · malheueruses · malheuresues · malheureuess · malheureusess
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "malheureuse" for "malheureuses" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "malheureuse" or "malheureuses" show up more?
Useful next steps
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "malheureuse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "malheureuses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #196,656 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "malheureuse" and "malheureuses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "malheureuse vs malheureux". 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 #196,656 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.