residencevsrésidencesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#43,115
“residence” frequency rank
#7,625
“résidences” frequency rank
50740
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature residence résidences
Definition Demeure, domicile, gîte, habitation, logement, logis. Pluriel de résidence.

Where the eye mixes residence and résidences

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. residence runs 9 letters (CVCVCVCCV) against résidences's 10 (CVCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
residence
10 ch
résidences

Visual trap between residence and résidences

A purely visual mix-up. residence ([ˈɹɛz.ɪ.dəns]) and résidences (\ʁe.zi.dɑ̃s\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50740, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

residence is recorded at frequency rank #43,115, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɹɛz.ɪ.dəns]. résidences is at rank #7,625, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁe.zi.dɑ̃s\.

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 50740, this pair ranks #160,358 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of residence vs résidences

Shared letters: cdeinrs. Private to "residence": -. Private to "résidences": é.

"residence" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCCV  ·  "résidences" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • residence ← ersidence · reisdence · resdience · residdence · residecne · residencce · residenec · residennce

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "residence" and "résidences" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɹɛz.ɪ.dəns] versus \ʁe.zi.dɑ̃s\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "residence" or "résidences"?
"résidences" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,625 in our French list, against #43,115 for "residence". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "residence" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "résidences" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #160,358 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "residence" and "résidences" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "residence vs résidente". 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 #160,358 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