ouraganvsouragansWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,027
“ouragan” frequency rank
#28,674
“ouragans” frequency rank
41701
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ouragan ouragans
Definition Tempête violente causée par la rencontre de plusieurs vents qui forment des tourbillons. Pluriel de ouragan.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
ouragan
8 ch
ouragans

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. ouragan and ouragans are pronounced identically (\u.ʁa.ɡɑ̃\) 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) - “ouragan” sits inside “ouragans”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41701, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ouragan is recorded at frequency rank #13,027, classified as anoun, pronounced \u.ʁa.ɡɑ̃\. ouragans is at rank #28,674, tagged as anoun, pronounced \u.ʁa.ɡɑ̃\.

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 41701, this pair ranks #231,139 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ouragan vs ouragans

Shared letters: agnoru. Private to "ouragan": -. Private to "ouragans": s.

"ouragan" · 7 letters · shape VVCVCVC  ·  "ouragans" · 8 letters · shape VVCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ouraganoruagan · ouargan · ouraagn · ouragann · ouraggan · ouragna · ourgaan · ourragan
  • ouragansoruagans · ouargans · ouraagns · ouraganns · ouraganss · ouragasn · ouraggans · ouragnas

Frequency comparison

ouragan#13,027
ouragans#28,674

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ouragan" and "ouragans" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\u.ʁa.ɡɑ̃\), 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, "ouragan" or "ouragans"?
"ouragan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,027 in our French list, against #28,674 for "ouragans". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ouragan vs ouragans

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 “ouragan” 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