Which to use
“Partisan” is a noun and “partisans” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,749
- “Partisan” frequency rank
- #3,951
- “partisans” frequency rank
- 12700
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Partisan | partisans |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partisan, résistant. | Masculin pluriel de partisan. |
Where the eye mixes Partisan and partisans
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Partisan vs partisans
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Partisan is \par.ti.ˈzaːn\ while partisans is \paʁ.ti.zɑ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Partisan” sits inside “partisans”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12700, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Partisan is recorded at frequency rank #8,749, classified as anoun, pronounced \par.ti.ˈzaːn\. partisans is at rank #3,951, tagged as anadj, pronounced \paʁ.ti.zɑ̃\.
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 12700, this pair ranks #404,148 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Partisan vs partisans
Shared letters: ainprst. Private to "Partisan": -. Private to "partisans": -.
"Partisan" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "partisans" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Partisan" for "partisans" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Partisan" vs "partisans" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Partisan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "partisans" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #404,148 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Partisan" and "partisans" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "partial vs Partisan". 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 #404,148 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.