Which to use
“pattern” and “patterns” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,446
- “pattern” frequency rank
- #44,086
- “patterns” frequency rank
- 83532
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pattern | patterns |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Motif graphique reproductible. | Pluriel de pattern. |
Same sound, different letters: pattern vs patterns
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters.
Homophone desk: pattern vs patterns
This is the hard kind. pattern and patterns are pronounced identically (\pa.tɛʁn\) 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) - “pattern” sits inside “patterns”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83532, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pattern is recorded at frequency rank #39,446, classified as anoun, pronounced \pa.tɛʁn\. patterns is at rank #44,086, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pa.tɛʁn\.
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 83532, this pair ranks #14,643 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pattern vs patterns
Shared letters: aenprt. Private to "pattern": -. Private to "patterns": s.
"pattern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "patterns" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pattern" and "patterns" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "pattern" vs "patterns" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've separated the homophone pair "pattern" / "patterns". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "pattern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "patterns" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #14,643 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pattern" and "patterns" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pater vs pattern". 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 #14,643 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.