orguevsorguesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,452
“orgue” frequency rank
#29,466
“orgues” frequency rank
40918
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature orgue orgues
Definition Instrument de musique à vent, à clavier et à pédalier, composé de tuyaux de différentes sortes et de différentes grandeurs, alimentés d’air par des soufflets et que l’on fait résonner en appuyant sur les touches d’un ou de plusieurs claviers. Pluriel de orgue.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set orgue and orgues apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
orgue
6 ch
orgues

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. orgue and orgues are pronounced identically (\ɔʁɡ\) 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) - “orgue” sits inside “orgues”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40918, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

orgue is recorded at frequency rank #11,452, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɔʁɡ\. orgues is at rank #29,466, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɔʁɡ\.

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 40918, this pair ranks #236,942 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of orgue vs orgues

Shared letters: egoru. Private to "orgue": -. Private to "orgues": s.

"orgue" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV  ·  "orgues" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • orgueogrue · orgeu · orggue · orrgue
  • orguesogrues · orgeus · orggues · orguess · orguse · orrgues

Frequency comparison

orgue#11,452
orgues#29,466

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "orgue" and "orgues" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\ɔʁɡ\), 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, "orgue" or "orgues"?
"orgue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,452 in our French list, against #29,466 for "orgues". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering orgue vs orgues

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 “orgue” 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