résidantvsrésidantsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#11,296
“résidant” frequency rank
#40,480
“résidants” frequency rank
51776
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature résidant résidants
Definition Qui réside, qui demeure. Masculin pluriel de résidant.

Same sound, different letters: résidant vs résidants

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 8 letters. résidant runs 8 letters (CVCVCVCC) against résidants's 9 (CVCVCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
résidant
9 ch
résidants

Ear matches; page differs - résidant and résidants

This is the hard kind. résidant and résidants are pronounced identically (\ʁe.zi.dɑ̃\) and both work as anadjective. 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) - “résidant” sits inside “résidants”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51776, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

résidant is recorded at frequency rank #11,296, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʁe.zi.dɑ̃\. résidants is at rank #40,480, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁe.zi.dɑ̃\.

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 51776, this pair ranks #152,567 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of résidant vs résidants

Shared letters: adinrsté. Private to "résidant": -. Private to "résidants": -.

"résidant" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC  ·  "résidants" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "résidant" for "résidants" ever safe?
No. They are pronounced the same (\ʁe.zi.dɑ̃\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Frequency check: "résidant" vs "résidants" - which ranks higher?
"résidant" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,296 in our French list, against #40,480 for "résidants". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "résidant" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "résidants" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #152,567 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "résidant" and "résidants" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "résidants vs résidente". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #152,567 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list