quelsvsquilsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: quels is a adjective, quils is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#1,933
“quels” frequency rank
#32,543
“quils” frequency rank
34476
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quels quils
Definition Masculin pluriel de quel. Pluriel de quil.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set quels and quils apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
quels
5 ch
quils

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: quels is \kɛl\ while quils is \kils\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “quels” becomes i in “quils”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34476, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quels is recorded at frequency rank #1,933, classified as anadj, pronounced \kɛl\. quils is at rank #32,543, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kils\.

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 34476, this pair ranks #283,565 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of quels vs quils

Shared letters: lqsu. Private to "quels": e. Private to "quils": i.

"quels" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "quils" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quelsqeuls · qquels · quells · quelss · quesl · qules · uqels
  • quilsqiuls · qquils · quills · quilss · quisl · qulis · uqils

Frequency comparison

quels#1,933
quils#32,543

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "quels" and "quils" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "quels" is an adjective and "quils" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "quels" or "quils"?
"quels" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,933 in our French list, against #32,543 for "quils". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering quels vs quils

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list