tiroirsvstironsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tiroirs is a noun, tirons is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tiroirs” is a noun and “tirons” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,485
“tiroirs” frequency rank
#38,068
“tirons” frequency rank
59553
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tiroirs tirons
Definition Pluriel de tiroir. Première personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de tirer.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
tiroirs
6 ch
tirons

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tiroirs is \ti.ʁwaʁ\ while tirons is \ti.ʁɔ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59553, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tiroirs is recorded at frequency rank #21,485, classified as anoun, pronounced \ti.ʁwaʁ\. tirons is at rank #38,068, tagged as averb, pronounced \ti.ʁɔ̃\.

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 59553, this pair ranks #102,501 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tiroirs vs tirons

Shared letters: iorst. Private to "tiroirs": -. Private to "tirons": n.

"tiroirs" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC  ·  "tirons" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tiroirsitroirs · tiorirs · tiriors · tiroirrs · tiroirss · tiroisr · tiroris · tirroirs
  • tironsitrons · tiorns · tirnos · tironns · tironss · tirosn · tirrons · trions

Frequency comparison

tiroirs#21,485
tirons#38,068

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tiroirs" and "tirons" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tiroirs" is a noun and "tirons" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tiroirs" or "tirons"?
"tiroirs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,485 in our French list, against #38,068 for "tirons". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering tiroirs vs tirons

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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