Which to use
“thèmes” and “thèses” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,103
- “thèmes” frequency rank
- #10,958
- “thèses” frequency rank
- 15061
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | thèmes | thèses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de thème. | Pluriel de thèse. |
Where the eye mixes thèmes and thèses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between thèmes and thèses
A purely visual mix-up. thèmes (\tɛm\) and thèses (\tɛz\) 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 - m in “thèmes” becomes s in “thèses”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15061, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
thèmes is recorded at frequency rank #4,103, classified as anoun, pronounced \tɛm\. thèses is at rank #10,958, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tɛz\.
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 15061, this pair ranks #394,034 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of thèmes vs thèses
Shared letters: ehstè. Private to "thèmes": m. Private to "thèses": -.
"thèmes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "thèses" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "thèmes" for "thèses" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "thèmes" or "thèses" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "thèmes" and "thèses" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "thèmes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "thèses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #394,034 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "thèmes" and "thèses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "thèses vs tissés". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #394,034 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.