ultérieur vs ultérieures, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“ultérieur” and “ultérieures” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#27,649
“ultérieur” frequency rank: #21,802
“ultérieures” frequency rank: 49451
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ultérieur	ultérieures
Definition	Qui se fait après ; qui arrive après.	Féminin pluriel de ultérieur.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ultérieur and ultérieures apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch

ultérieur

11 ch

ultérieures

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. ultérieur and ultérieures are pronounced identically (\yl.te.ʁjœʁ\) and both work as anadjective. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “ultérieur” sits inside “ultérieures”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49451, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ultérieur is recorded at frequency rank #27,649, classified as anadj, pronounced \yl.te.ʁjœʁ\. ultérieures is at rank #21,802, tagged as anadj, pronounced \yl.te.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 49451, this pair ranks #170,560 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ultérieur vs ultérieures

Shared letters: eilrtué. Private to "ultérieur": -. Private to "ultérieures": s.

"ultérieur" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVVVC · "ultérieures" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCVVVCVC

Frequency comparison

ultérieur#27,649

ultérieures#21,802

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ultérieur" and "ultérieures" be used interchangeably?

No. They are pronounced the same (\yl.te.ʁjœʁ\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.

Which is more common, "ultérieur" or "ultérieures"?

"ultérieures" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,802 in our French list, against #27,649 for "ultérieur". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ultérieur vs ultérieures

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ultérieur” entry
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