Which to use
“trou” and “trous” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,396
- “trou” frequency rank
- #4,813
- “trous” frequency rank
- 7209
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | trou | trous |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ouverture au travers d’un corps ou qui y pénètre à une certaine profondeur. | Pluriel de trou. |
Same sound, different letters: trou vs trous
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
This is the hard kind. trou and trous are pronounced identically (\tʁu\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “trou” sits inside “trous”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7209, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
trou is recorded at frequency rank #2,396, classified as anoun, pronounced \tʁu\. trous is at rank #4,813, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tʁu\.
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 7209, this pair ranks #423,852 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of trou vs trous
Shared letters: ortu. Private to "trou": -. Private to "trous": s.
"trou" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "trous" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "trou" and "trous" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "trou" or "trous"?
What to do next
You've compared "trou" and "trous". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "trou" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "trous" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #423,852 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "trou" and "trous" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "trônes vs trous". 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
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.