présencevsprésencesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#745
“présence” frequency rank
#21,126
“présences” frequency rank
21871
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature présence présences
Definition Existence d’une personne dans un lieu donné. Pluriel de présence.

Same sound, different letters: présence vs présences

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 8 letters. présence runs 8 letters (CCVCVCCV) against présences's 9 (CCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
présence
9 ch
présences

Same sound, different spelling - présence / présences

This is the hard kind. présence and présences are pronounced identically (\pʁe.zɑ̃s\) 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) - “présence” sits inside “présences”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21871, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

présence is recorded at frequency rank #745, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁe.zɑ̃s\. présences is at rank #21,126, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁe.zɑ̃s\.

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 21871, this pair ranks #361,010 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of présence vs présences

Shared letters: cenprsé. Private to "présence": -. Private to "présences": -.

"présence" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV  ·  "présences" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "présence" for "présences" ever safe?
No. They are pronounced the same (\pʁe.zɑ̃s\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "présence" or "présences"?
"présence" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #745 in our French list, against #21,126 for "présences". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.

  • Full dictionary entry for "présence" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "présences" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #361,010 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "présence" and "présences" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "préséance vs présences". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #361,010 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