productivesvsproductricesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#24,727
“productives” frequency rank
#40,934
“productrices” frequency rank
65661
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature productives productrices
Definition Féminin pluriel de productif. Féminin pluriel de producteur.

Where the eye mixes productives and productrices

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. productives runs 11 letters (CCVCVCCVCVC) against productrices's 12 (CCVCVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
productives
12 ch
productrices

Look-alike desk: productives vs productrices

A purely visual mix-up. productives (\pʁɔ.dyk.tiv\) and productrices (\pʁɔ.dyk.tʁis\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65661, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

productives is recorded at frequency rank #24,727, classified as anadj, pronounced \pʁɔ.dyk.tiv\. productrices is at rank #40,934, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pʁɔ.dyk.tʁis\.

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 65661, this pair ranks #71,329 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of productives vs productrices

Shared letters: cdeioprstu. Private to "productives": v. Private to "productrices": -.

"productives" · 11 letters · shape CCVCVCCVCVC  ·  "productrices" · 12 letters · shape CCVCVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • productives ← porductives · pproductives · prdouctives · prodcutives · prodductives · producctives · producitves · productievs
  • productrices ← porductrices · pproductrices · prdouctrices · prodcutrices · prodductrices · producctrices · producrtices · productirces

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "productives" for "productrices" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\pʁɔ.dyk.tiv\ versus \pʁɔ.dyk.tʁis\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "productives" or "productrices"?
"productives" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,727 in our French list, against #40,934 for "productrices". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "productives" and "productrices" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "productives" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "productrices" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #71,329 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "productives" and "productrices" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "productrices vs protectrices". 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 #71,329 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