singesvssongesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,074
“singes” frequency rank
#29,154
“songes” frequency rank
39228
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature singes songes
Definition Pluriel de singe. Pluriel de songe.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set singes and songes apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
singes
6 ch
songes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. singes (\sɛ̃ʒ\) and songes (\sɔ̃ʒ\) 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 a single letter - i in “singes” becomes o in “songes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39228, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

singes is recorded at frequency rank #10,074, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɛ̃ʒ\. songes is at rank #29,154, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɔ̃ʒ\.

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 39228, this pair ranks #249,523 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of singes vs songes

Shared letters: egns. Private to "singes": i. Private to "songes": o.

"singes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "songes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • singesisnges · signes · sinegs · singess · singges · singse · sinnges · sniges
  • songesosnges · snoges · sognes · sonegs · songess · songges · songse · sonnges

Frequency comparison

singes#10,074
songes#29,154

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "singes" and "songes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\sɛ̃ʒ\ versus \sɔ̃ʒ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "singes" or "songes"?
"singes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,074 in our French list, against #29,154 for "songes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering singes vs songes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “singes” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list