Which to use
“tribun” and “tribunes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,577
- “tribun” frequency rank
- #11,870
- “tribunes” frequency rank
- 41447
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tribun | tribunes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Magistrat chargé de défendre les droits et les intérêts du peuple. | Pluriel de tribune. |
Where the eye mixes tribun and tribunes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. tribun runs 6 letters (CCVCVC) against tribunes's 8 (CCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses tribun with tribunes
A purely visual mix-up. tribun (\tʁi.bœ̃\) and tribunes (\tʁi.byn\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “tribun” sits inside “tribunes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41447, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tribun is recorded at frequency rank #29,577, classified as anoun, pronounced \tʁi.bœ̃\. tribunes is at rank #11,870, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tʁi.byn\.
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 41447, this pair ranks #233,026 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tribun vs tribunes
Shared letters: binrtu. Private to "tribun": -. Private to "tribunes": es.
"tribun" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "tribunes" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tribun" and "tribunes" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "tribun" or "tribunes"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "tribun" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tribunes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #233,026 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tribun" and "tribunes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tribaux vs tribun". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #233,026 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.