supérieurevssupérieuresWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: supérieure is a noun, supérieures is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“supérieure” is a noun and “supérieures” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,788
“supérieure” frequency rank
#5,404
“supérieures” frequency rank
7192
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature supérieure supérieures
Definition Celle qui est située au-dessus. Féminin pluriel de supérieur.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set supérieure and supérieures apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
supérieure
11 ch
supérieures

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: supérieure and supérieures carry the same recorded pronunciation, \sy.pe.ʁjœʁ\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “supérieure” sits inside “supérieures”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7192, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

supérieure is recorded at frequency rank #1,788, classified as anoun, 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 7192, this pair ranks #423,907 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of supérieure vs supérieures

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

"supérieure" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVVVCV  ·  "supérieures" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCVVVCVC

Frequency comparison

supérieure#1,788
supérieures#5,404

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "supérieure" and "supérieures" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "supérieure" is a noun and "supérieures" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "supérieure" or "supérieures"?
"supérieure" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,788 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 supérieure vs supérieures

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “supérieure”; for an adjective, it's “supérieures”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “supérieure” 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