oreillettevsoreillettesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#23,301
“oreillette” frequency rank
#44,611
“oreillettes” frequency rank
67912
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature oreillette oreillettes
Definition Chacune des deux cavités du cœur qui sont placées au-dessus des deux ventricules. Pluriel de oreillette.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set oreillette and oreillettes apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
oreillette
11 ch
oreillettes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. oreillette and oreillettes are pronounced identically (\ɔ.ʁɛ.jɛt\) 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) - “oreillette” sits inside “oreillettes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67912, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

oreillette is recorded at frequency rank #23,301, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɔ.ʁɛ.jɛt\. oreillettes is at rank #44,611, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɔ.ʁɛ.jɛt\.

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 67912, this pair ranks #61,412 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of oreillette vs oreillettes

Shared letters: eilort. Private to "oreillette": -. Private to "oreillettes": s.

"oreillette" · 10 letters · shape VCVVCCVCCV  ·  "oreillettes" · 11 letters · shape VCVVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • oreilletteoerillette · oreileltte · oreilette · oreillete · oreilletet · oreilltete · orelilette · oriellette
  • oreillettesoerillettes · oreilelttes · oreilettes · oreilletes · oreilletets · oreillettess · oreillettse · oreilltetes

Frequency comparison

oreillette#23,301
oreillettes#44,611

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "oreillette" and "oreillettes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\ɔ.ʁɛ.jɛt\), 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, "oreillette" or "oreillettes"?
"oreillette" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,301 in our French list, against #44,611 for "oreillettes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering oreillette vs oreillettes

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 “oreillette” 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