stèle vs stèles, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#25,139
“stèle” frequency rank: #40,515
“stèles” frequency rank: 65654
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	stèle	stèles
Definition	Monument monolithe ayant la forme d’un fût de colonne, d’un obélisque, d’une dalle dressée et sculptée ou peinte, qui sert le plus souvent à marquer l’emplacement d’une sépulture.	Pluriel de stèle.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch

stèle

6 ch

stèles

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. stèle and stèles are pronounced identically (\stɛl\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “stèle” sits inside “stèles”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65654, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stèle is recorded at frequency rank #25,139, classified as anoun, pronounced \stɛl\. stèles is at rank #40,515, tagged as anoun, pronounced \stɛl\.

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 65654, this pair ranks #71,365 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of stèle vs stèles

Shared letters: elstè. Private to "stèle": -. Private to "stèles": -.

"stèle" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "stèles" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Frequency comparison

stèle#25,139

stèles#40,515

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "stèle" and "stèles" be used interchangeably?

No. They are pronounced the same (\stɛl\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.

Which is more common, "stèle" or "stèles"?

"stèle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,139 in our French list, against #40,515 for "stèles". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering stèle vs stèles

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 “stèle” entry
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