Which to use
“phalange” and “phalanges” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,827
- “phalange” frequency rank
- #36,099
- “phalanges” frequency rank
- 69926
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | phalange | phalanges |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Formation de combat d’infanterie utilisée par les Sumériens, puis en Grèce antique et Macédoine jusqu’au IIᵉ siècle avant J.-C. Corps de piquiers pesamment armés qui combattaient sur quatre, huit, douze, seize rangs de profondeur et plus. | Pluriel de phalange. |
Same sound, different letters: phalange vs phalanges
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 8 letters.
Ear matches; page differs - phalange and phalanges
This is the hard kind. phalange and phalanges are pronounced identically (\fa.lɑ̃ʒ\) 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) - “phalange” sits inside “phalanges”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69926, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
phalange is recorded at frequency rank #33,827, classified as anoun, pronounced \fa.lɑ̃ʒ\. phalanges is at rank #36,099, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fa.lɑ̃ʒ\.
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 69926, this pair ranks #53,290 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of phalange vs phalanges
Shared letters: aeghlnp. Private to "phalange": -. Private to "phalanges": s.
"phalange" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV · "phalanges" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "phalange" and "phalanges" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "phalange" or "phalanges" show up more?
Useful next steps
"phalange" and "phalanges" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "phalange" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "phalanges" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #53,290 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- 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 #53,290 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.