impérative
\ɛ̃.pe.ʁa.tiv\
The verdict
“impérative” has 15 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #35,546. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #35,546
- frequency rank, French
- 142,603
- “I” headwords
- 15
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Féminin singulier de impératif.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | impérative |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | \ɛ̃.pe.ʁa.tiv\ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #35,546 |
| Misspellings tracked | 15 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “impérative” sits in French frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 15 spelling variants around impérative (IPA \ɛ̃.pe.ʁa.tiv\), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #35,546 among 142,603 “I” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Féminin singulier de impératif.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for impérative, with forms such as "immpérative", "imperative", and "imppérative". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "impératrice", "impératif", "impératifs", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is impérative, spelled I-M-P-É-R-A-T-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1Féminin singulier de impératif.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- immpérative
- imperative
- imppérative
- impréative
- impéartive
- impéraitve
- impératiev
- impérativve
- impérattive
- impératvie
- impérrative
- impértaive
- iméprative
- ipmérative
- mipérative
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of impérative - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "impérative"?
What does "impérative" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "impérative"?
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Using “impérative”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is I-M-P-É-R-A-T-I-V-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ɛ̃.pe.ʁa.tiv\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “impératrice” - see the side-by-side comparison. impérative vs impératrice
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Same frequency band
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.