reconnaissance vs reconnaissances

Which to use

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

#2,297
“reconnaissance” frequency rank: #33,430
“reconnaissances” frequency rank: 35727
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	reconnaissance	reconnaissances
Definition	Action par laquelle on retrouve dans sa mémoire l’idée, l’image d’une chose ou d’une personne quand on vient à la revoir, de sorte à l'identifier.	Pluriel de reconnaissance.

Same sound, different letters: reconnaissance vs reconnaissances

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 14 letters. reconnaissance runs 14 letters (CVCVCCVVCCVCCV) against reconnaissances's 15 (CVCVCCVVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

14 ch

reconnaissance

15 ch

reconnaissances

Same sound, different spelling - reconnaissance / reconnaissances

This is the hard kind. reconnaissance and reconnaissances are pronounced identically (\ʁə.kɔ.nɛ.sɑ̃s\) 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) - “reconnaissance” sits inside “reconnaissances”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35727, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reconnaissance is recorded at frequency rank #2,297, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.kɔ.nɛ.sɑ̃s\. reconnaissances is at rank #33,430, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.kɔ.nɛ.sɑ̃s\.

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 35727, this pair ranks #274,677 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of reconnaissance vs reconnaissances

Shared letters: aceinors. Private to "reconnaissance": -. Private to "reconnaissances": -.

"reconnaissance" · 14 letters · shape CVCVCCVVCCVCCV · "reconnaissances" · 15 letters · shape CVCVCCVVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

reconnaissance ← erconnaissance · rceonnaissance · recconnaissance · recnonaissance · reconaissance · reconanissance · reconnaisance · reconnaisasnce
reconnaissances ← erconnaissances · rceonnaissances · recconnaissances · recnonaissances · reconaissances · reconanissances · reconnaisances · reconnaisasnces

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "reconnaissance" and "reconnaissances" mean the same thing in a sentence?

No. They are pronounced the same (\ʁə.kɔ.nɛ.sɑ̃s\), 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, "reconnaissance" or "reconnaissances"?

"reconnaissance" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,297 in our French list, against #33,430 for "reconnaissances". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.

Full dictionary entry for "reconnaissance" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "reconnaissances" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #274,677 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"reconnaissance" and "reconnaissances" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reconnaissables vs reconnaissances". 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 #274,677 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.