sallesvssamplesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,798
“salles” frequency rank
#47,034
“samples” frequency rank
49832
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature salles samples
Definition Pluriel de salle. Pluriel de sample.

Where the eye mixes salles and samples

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
salles
7 ch
samples

Look-alike desk: salles vs samples

A purely visual mix-up. salles (\sal\) and samples (\sɑ̃pl\) 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 49832, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

salles is recorded at frequency rank #2,798, classified as anoun, pronounced \sal\. samples is at rank #47,034, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɑ̃pl\.

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 49832, this pair ranks #167,528 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of salles vs samples

Shared letters: aels. Private to "salles": -. Private to "samples": mp.

"salles" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "samples" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sallesaslles · salels · sales · salless · sallse · slales · ssalles
  • samplesasmples · samlpes · sammples · sampels · sampless · samplles · samplse · sampples

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "salles" for "samples" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\sal\ versus \sɑ̃pl\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "salles" vs "samples" - which ranks higher?
"salles" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,798 in our French list, against #47,034 for "samples". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "salles" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "samples" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #167,528 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "salles" and "samples" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "samples vs simplet". 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 #167,528 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