violencevsviolencesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,463
“violence” frequency rank
#2,748
“violences” frequency rank
4211
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature violence violences
Definition Impétuosité ; force non contenue. Pluriel de violence.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set violence and violences apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
violence
9 ch
violences

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. violence and violences are pronounced identically (\vjɔ.lɑ̃s\) 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) - “violence” sits inside “violences”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4211, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

violence is recorded at frequency rank #1,463, classified as anoun, pronounced \vjɔ.lɑ̃s\. violences is at rank #2,748, tagged as anoun, pronounced \vjɔ.lɑ̃s\.

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 4211, this pair ranks #432,183 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of violence vs violences

Shared letters: ceilnov. Private to "violence": -. Private to "violences": s.

"violence" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCCV  ·  "violences" · 9 letters · shape CVVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • violenceivolence · viloence · vioelnce · violecne · violencce · violenec · violennce · viollence
  • violencesivolences · viloences · vioelnces · violecnes · violencces · violencess · violencse · violenecs

Frequency comparison

violence#1,463
violences#2,748

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "violence" and "violences" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\vjɔ.lɑ̃s\), 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, "violence" or "violences"?
"violence" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,463 in our French list, against #2,748 for "violences". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering violence vs violences

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 “violence” 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