polyvalencevspolyvalentsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“polyvalence” and “polyvalents” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#29,914
“polyvalence” frequency rank
#46,961
“polyvalents” frequency rank
76875
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature polyvalence polyvalents
Definition Caractère de ce qui est polyvalent. Pluriel de polyvalent.

Where the eye mixes polyvalence and polyvalents

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. polyvalence (CVCVCVCVCCV) and polyvalents (CVCVCVCVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

11 ch
polyvalence
11 ch
polyvalents

Look-alike desk: polyvalence vs polyvalents

A purely visual mix-up. polyvalence (\pɔ.li.va.lɑ̃s\) and polyvalents (\pɔ.li.va.lɑ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76875, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

polyvalence is recorded at frequency rank #29,914, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɔ.li.va.lɑ̃s\. polyvalents is at rank #46,961, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɔ.li.va.lɑ̃\.

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 76875, this pair ranks #29,942 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of polyvalence vs polyvalents

Shared letters: aelnopvy. Private to "polyvalence": c. Private to "polyvalents": st.

"polyvalence" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCVCVCCV  ·  "polyvalents" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCVCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • polyvalence ← oplyvalence · ployvalence · pollyvalence · polvyalence · polyavlence · polyvaelnce · polyvalecne · polyvalencce
  • polyvalents ← oplyvalents · ployvalents · pollyvalents · polvyalents · polyavlents · polyvaelnts · polyvalennts · polyvalenst

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "polyvalence" and "polyvalents" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pɔ.li.va.lɑ̃s\ versus \pɔ.li.va.lɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "polyvalence" or "polyvalents"?
"polyvalence" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,914 in our French list, against #46,961 for "polyvalents". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "polyvalence" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "polyvalents" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #29,942 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "polyvalence" and "polyvalents" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "polyvalente vs polyvalents". 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 #29,942 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list