préférées vs préférences, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#12,647
“préférées” frequency rank: #13,039
“préférences” frequency rank: 25686
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	préférées	préférences
Definition	Féminin pluriel de préféré.	Pluriel de préférence.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set préférées and préférences apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch

préférées

11 ch

préférences

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: préférées is \pʁe.fe.ʁe\ while préférences is \pʁe.fe.ʁɑ̃s\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25686, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

préférées is recorded at frequency rank #12,647, classified as anadj, pronounced \pʁe.fe.ʁe\. préférences is at rank #13,039, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁe.fe.ʁɑ̃s\.

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 25686, this pair ranks #339,437 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of préférées vs préférences

Shared letters: efprsé. Private to "préférées": -. Private to "préférences": cn.

"préférées" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVVC · "préférences" · 11 letters · shape CCVCVCVCCVC

Frequency comparison

préférées#12,647

préférences#13,039

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "préférées" and "préférences" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "préférées" is an adjective and "préférences" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "préférées" or "préférences"?

"préférées" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,647 in our French list, against #13,039 for "préférences". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering préférées vs préférences

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “préférées”; for a noun, it's “préférences”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “préférées” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable