quidvsquilsWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#15,224
“quid” frequency rank
#32,543
“quils” frequency rank
47767
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quid quils
Definition Qu’en est-il ? Pluriel de quil.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set quid and quils apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
quid
5 ch
quils

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: quid is \kwid\ while quils is \kils\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47767, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quid is recorded at frequency rank #15,224, classified as apron, pronounced \kwid\. 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 47767, this pair ranks #184,304 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of quid vs quils

Shared letters: iqu. Private to "quid": d. Private to "quils": ls.

"quid" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "quils" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quidqiud · qquid · qudi · quidd · uqid
  • quilsqiuls · qquils · quills · quilss · quisl · qulis · uqils

Frequency comparison

quid#15,224
quils#32,543

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "quid" and "quils" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "quid" is a pronoun and "quils" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "quid" or "quils"?
"quid" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,224 in our French list, against #32,543 for "quils". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering quid vs quils

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a pronoun, it's “quid”; for a noun, it's “quils”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “quid” 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