proportionnellevsproportionnellesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,765
“proportionnelle” frequency rank
#49,297
“proportionnelles” frequency rank
60062
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature proportionnelle proportionnelles
Definition Rapport de proportion avec une autre chose. Pluriel de proportionnelle.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set proportionnelle and proportionnelles apart are highlighted. They share 15 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

15 ch
proportionnelle
16 ch
proportionnelles

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. proportionnelle and proportionnelles are pronounced identically (\pʁɔ.pɔʁ.sjɔ.nɛl\) 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) - “proportionnelle” sits inside “proportionnelles”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60062, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

proportionnelle is recorded at frequency rank #10,765, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔ.pɔʁ.sjɔ.nɛl\. proportionnelles is at rank #49,297, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔ.pɔʁ.sjɔ.nɛl\.

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 60062, this pair ranks #99,655 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of proportionnelle vs proportionnelles

Shared letters: eilnoprt. Private to "proportionnelle": -. Private to "proportionnelles": s.

"proportionnelle" · 15 letters · shape CCVCVCCVVCCVCCV  ·  "proportionnelles" · 16 letters · shape CCVCVCCVVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • proportionnelleporportionnelle · pproportionnelle · prooprtionnelle · proporitonnelle · proporrtionnelle · proportinonelle · proportionelle · proportionenlle
  • proportionnellesporportionnelles · pproportionnelles · prooprtionnelles · proporitonnelles · proporrtionnelles · proportinonelles · proportionelles · proportionenlles

Frequency comparison

proportionnelle#10,765
proportionnelles#49,297

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "proportionnelle" and "proportionnelles" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\pʁɔ.pɔʁ.sjɔ.nɛl\), 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, "proportionnelle" or "proportionnelles"?
"proportionnelle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,765 in our French list, against #49,297 for "proportionnelles". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering proportionnelle vs proportionnelles

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list