Which to use
“pleins” is an adjective and “pleurs” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,632
- “pleins” frequency rank
- #9,722
- “pleurs” frequency rank
- 13354
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pleins | pleurs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de plein. | Pluriel de pleur. |
Where the eye mixes pleins and pleurs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: pleins vs pleurs
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pleins is \plɛ̃\ while pleurs is \plœʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13354, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pleins is recorded at frequency rank #3,632, classified as anadj, pronounced \plɛ̃\. pleurs is at rank #9,722, tagged as anoun, pronounced \plœʁ\.
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 13354, this pair ranks #401,357 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pleins vs pleurs
Shared letters: elps. Private to "pleins": in. Private to "pleurs": ru.
"pleins" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC · "pleurs" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pleins" and "pleurs" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "pleins" or "pleurs" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pleins" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pleurs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #401,357 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pleins" and "pleurs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Peuls vs pleurs". 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 #401,357 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.