supérieur vs supérieures, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#1,349
“supérieur” frequency rank: #5,404
“supérieures” frequency rank: 6753
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	supérieur	supérieures
Definition	Qui est situé au-dessus.	Féminin pluriel de supérieur.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set supérieur and supérieures apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch

supérieur

11 ch

supérieures

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. supérieur and supérieures are pronounced identically (\sy.pe.ʁjœʁ\) and both work as anadjective. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “supérieur” sits inside “supérieures”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6753, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

supérieur is recorded at frequency rank #1,349, classified as anadj, pronounced \sy.pe.ʁjœʁ\. supérieures is at rank #5,404, tagged as anadj, pronounced \sy.pe.ʁjœʁ\.

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 6753, this pair ranks #425,341 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of supérieur vs supérieures

Shared letters: eiprsué. Private to "supérieur": -. Private to "supérieures": -.

"supérieur" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVVVC · "supérieures" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCVVVCVC

Frequency comparison

supérieur#1,349

supérieures#5,404

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "supérieur" and "supérieures" be used interchangeably?

No. They are pronounced the same (\sy.pe.ʁjœʁ\), 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, "supérieur" or "supérieures"?

"supérieur" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,349 in our French list, against #5,404 for "supérieures". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering supérieur vs supérieures

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 “supérieur” entry
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