scoresvssportsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#11,851
“scores” frequency rank
#2,646
“sports” frequency rank
14497
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature scores sports
Definition Pluriel de score. Pluriel de sport.

Where the eye mixes scores and sports

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. scores (CCVCVC) and sports (CCVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
scores
6 ch
sports

Look-alike desk: scores vs sports

A purely visual mix-up. scores (\skɔʁ\) and sports (\spɔʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14497, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

scores is recorded at frequency rank #11,851, classified as anoun, pronounced \skɔʁ\. sports is at rank #2,646, tagged as anoun, pronounced \spɔʁ\.

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 14497, this pair ranks #396,391 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of scores vs sports

Shared letters: ors. Private to "scores": ce. Private to "sports": pt.

"scores" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "sports" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • scorescsores · sccores · scoers · scoress · scorres · scorse · scroes · socres
  • sportspsorts · soprts · sporrts · sporst · sportss · sportts · spotrs · spports

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "scores" and "sports" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\skɔʁ\ versus \spɔʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "scores" vs "sports" - which ranks higher?
"sports" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,646 in our French list, against #11,851 for "scores". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "scores" and "sports" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "scores" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sports" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #396,391 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "scores" and "sports" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "scores vs sofres". 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 #396,391 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