ottomanevsottomansWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ottomane is a noun, ottomans is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ottomane” is a noun and “ottomans” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#27,551
“ottomane” frequency rank
#29,066
“ottomans” frequency rank
56617
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ottomane ottomans
Definition Sorte de grand siège, avec ou sans dossier, où plusieurs personnes peuvent être assises à la fois, attribué autrefois à la façon supposée des Turcs. Masculin pluriel de ottoman.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ottomane and ottomans apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
ottomane
8 ch
ottomans

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ottomane is \ɔ.tɔ.man\ while ottomans is \ɔ.tɔ.mɑ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “ottomane” becomes s in “ottomans”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56617, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ottomane is recorded at frequency rank #27,551, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɔ.tɔ.man\. ottomans is at rank #29,066, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɔ.tɔ.mɑ̃\.

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 56617, this pair ranks #119,970 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ottomane vs ottomans

Shared letters: amnot. Private to "ottomane": e. Private to "ottomans": s.

"ottomane" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV  ·  "ottomans" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ottomaneotomane · ototmane · ottmoane · ottoamne · ottomaen · ottomanne · ottommane · ottomnae
  • ottomansotomans · ototmans · ottmoans · ottoamns · ottomanns · ottomanss · ottomasn · ottommans

Frequency comparison

ottomane#27,551
ottomans#29,066

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ottomane" and "ottomans" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ottomane" is a noun and "ottomans" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ottomane" or "ottomans"?
"ottomane" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,551 in our French list, against #29,066 for "ottomans". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ottomane vs ottomans

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “ottomane”; for an adjective, it's “ottomans”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ottomane” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list