Which to use
“sirènes” and “sires” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,762
- “sirènes” frequency rank
- #48,797
- “sires” frequency rank
- 64559
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sirènes | sires |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de sirène. | Pluriel de sire. |
Where the eye mixes sirènes and sires
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. sirènes runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against sires's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses sirènes with sires
A purely visual mix-up. sirènes (\si.ʁɛn\) and sires (\siʁ\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64559, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sirènes is recorded at frequency rank #15,762, classified as anoun, pronounced \si.ʁɛn\. sires is at rank #48,797, tagged as anoun, pronounced \siʁ\.
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 64559, this pair ranks #76,478 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of sirènes vs sires
Shared letters: eirs. Private to "sirènes": nè. Private to "sires": -.
"sirènes" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "sires" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- sires ← isres · siers · siress · sirres · sirse · sries · ssires
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sirènes" and "sires" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "sirènes" vs "sires" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sirènes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sires" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #76,478 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sirènes" and "sires" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sires 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 #76,478 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.