ultérieur vs ultérieurs, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#27,649
“ultérieur” frequency rank: #28,004
“ultérieurs” frequency rank: 55653
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ultérieur	ultérieurs
Definition	Qui se fait après ; qui arrive après.	Masculin pluriel de ultérieur.

Where the spellings diverge

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

9 ch

ultérieur

10 ch

ultérieurs

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. ultérieur and ultérieurs 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 1 extra letter(s) - “ultérieur” sits inside “ultérieurs”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55653, 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\. ultérieurs is at rank #28,004, 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 55653, this pair ranks #126,097 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ultérieur vs ultérieurs

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

"ultérieur" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVVVC · "ultérieurs" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVVVCC

Frequency comparison

ultérieur#27,649

ultérieurs#28,004

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ultérieur" and "ultérieurs" 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 "ultérieurs"?

"ultérieur" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,649 in our French list, against #28,004 for "ultérieurs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ultérieur vs ultérieurs

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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