Which to use
“performance” and “performances” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,535
- “performance” frequency rank
- #3,702
- “performances” frequency rank
- 6237
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | performance | performances |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Manière dont s’est comporté un cheval dans une course. | Pluriel de performance. |
Same sound, different letters: performance vs performances
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 11 letters.
Homophone desk: performance vs performances
This is the hard kind. performance and performances are pronounced identically (\pɛʁ.fɔʁ.mɑ̃s\) 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) - “performance” sits inside “performances”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6237, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
performance is recorded at frequency rank #2,535, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɛʁ.fɔʁ.mɑ̃s\. performances is at rank #3,702, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɛʁ.fɔʁ.mɑ̃s\.
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 6237, this pair ranks #426,777 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of performance vs performances
Shared letters: acefmnopr. Private to "performance": -. Private to "performances": s.
"performance" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCV · "performances" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- performance ← eprformance · pefrormance · perfformance · perfomrance · perforamnce · performacne · performancce · performanec
- performances ← eprformances · pefrormances · perfformances · perfomrances · perforamnces · performacnes · performancces · performancess
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "performance" for "performances" ever safe?
Which is more common, "performance" or "performances"?
What to do next
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "performance" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "performances" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #426,777 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "performance" and "performances" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "performances vs performantes". 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 #426,777 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.