Which to use
“prétexte” and “prétextes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,271
- “prétexte” frequency rank
- #24,342
- “prétextes” frequency rank
- 28613
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prétexte | prétextes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Cause simulée, supposée ; raison apparente dont on se sert pour cacher le véritable motif d’un dessein, d’une action. | Pluriel de prétexte. |
Same sound, different letters: prétexte vs prétextes
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 8 letters. prétexte runs 8 letters (CCVCVCCV) against prétextes's 9 (CCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: prétexte vs prétextes
This is the hard kind. prétexte and prétextes are pronounced identically (\pʁe.tɛkst\) 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) - “prétexte” sits inside “prétextes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28613, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
prétexte is recorded at frequency rank #4,271, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁe.tɛkst\. prétextes is at rank #24,342, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁe.tɛkst\.
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 28613, this pair ranks #321,712 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of prétexte vs prétextes
Shared letters: eprtxé. Private to "prétexte": -. Private to "prétextes": s.
"prétexte" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV · "prétextes" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "prétexte" and "prétextes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "prétexte" or "prétextes" show up more?
After this comparison
"prétexte" and "prétextes" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "prétexte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prétextes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #321,712 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "prétexte" and "prétextes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prêtées vs prétextes". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #321,712 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.