Which to use
“4e” and “quatrièmes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,157
- “4e” frequency rank
- #49,304
- “quatrièmes” frequency rank
- 55461
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | 4e | quatrièmes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Quatrième. | Pluriel de quatrième. |
Same sound, different letters: 4e vs quatrièmes
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 1 letter. 4e runs 1 letters (V) against quatrièmes's 10 (CVVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - 4e / quatrièmes
This is the hard kind. 4e and quatrièmes are pronounced identically (\ka.tʁi.jɛm\) 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 8 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55461, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
4e is recorded at frequency rank #6,157, classified as anadj, pronounced \ka.tʁi.jɛm\. quatrièmes is at rank #49,304, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ka.tʁi.jɛm\.
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 55461, this pair ranks #127,293 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of 4e vs quatrièmes
Shared letters: e. Private to "4e": -. Private to "quatrièmes": aimqrstuè.
"4e" · 1 letters · shape V · "quatrièmes" · 10 letters · shape CVVCCVVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "4e" and "quatrièmes" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "4e" or "quatrièmes" show up more?
What to do next
You've separated the homophone pair "4e" / "quatrièmes". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "4e" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "quatrièmes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #127,293 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "4e" and "quatrièmes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "quatrième vs quatrièmes". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #127,293 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.