randonnéevsrandonnéesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,914
“randonnée” frequency rank
#21,437
“randonnées” frequency rank
30351
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature randonnée randonnées
Definition Tour, circuit que fait autour du même lieu une bête qui, après avoir été lancée, se fait chasser dans son enceinte avant de l’abandonner. Pluriel de randonnée.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set randonnée and randonnées apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
randonnée
10 ch
randonnées

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. randonnée and randonnées are pronounced identically (\ʁɑ̃.dɔ.ne\) 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) - “randonnée” sits inside “randonnées”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30351, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

randonnée is recorded at frequency rank #8,914, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁɑ̃.dɔ.ne\. randonnées is at rank #21,437, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁɑ̃.dɔ.ne\.

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 30351, this pair ranks #310,913 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of randonnée vs randonnées

Shared letters: adenoré. Private to "randonnée": -. Private to "randonnées": s.

"randonnée" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVV  ·  "randonnées" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVC

Frequency comparison

randonnée#8,914
randonnées#21,437

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "randonnée" and "randonnées" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\ʁɑ̃.dɔ.ne\), 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, "randonnée" or "randonnées"?
"randonnée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,914 in our French list, against #21,437 for "randonnées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering randonnée vs randonnées

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “randonnée” 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