phonétiquevsphonétiquesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: phonétique is a adjective, phonétiques is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“phonétique” is an adjective and “phonétiques” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,110
“phonétique” frequency rank
#49,272
“phonétiques” frequency rank
70382
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature phonétique phonétiques
Definition Relatif aux sons, plus précisément aux phones, d’une langue. Pluriel de phonétique.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set phonétique and phonétiques apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
phonétique
11 ch
phonétiques

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: phonétique and phonétiques carry the same recorded pronunciation, \fɔ.ne.tik\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “phonétique” sits inside “phonétiques”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70382, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

phonétique is recorded at frequency rank #21,110, classified as anadj, pronounced \fɔ.ne.tik\. phonétiques is at rank #49,272, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɔ.ne.tik\.

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 70382, this pair ranks #51,508 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of phonétique vs phonétiques

Shared letters: ehinopqtué. Private to "phonétique": -. Private to "phonétiques": s.

"phonétique" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVCVCVV  ·  "phonétiques" · 11 letters · shape CCVCVCVCVVC

Frequency comparison

phonétique#21,110
phonétiques#49,272

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "phonétique" and "phonétiques" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "phonétique" is an adjective and "phonétiques" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "phonétique" or "phonétiques"?
"phonétique" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,110 in our French list, against #49,272 for "phonétiques". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering phonétique vs phonétiques

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “phonétique”; for a noun, it's “phonétiques”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “phonétique” 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