adolescentvsadolescenteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: adolescent is a adjective, adolescente is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“adolescent” is an adjective and “adolescente” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,677
“adolescent” frequency rank
#11,514
“adolescente” frequency rank
18191
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature adolescent adolescente
Definition Qui est dans l’âge au-dessus de l’enfance sans être encore adulte. Jeune fille pubère qui n’est plus une enfant et qui est en train de devenir une adulte.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set adolescent and adolescente apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
adolescent
11 ch
adolescente

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: adolescent is \a.dɔ.le.sɑ̃\ while adolescente is \a.dɔ.lɛ.sɑ̃t\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “adolescent” sits inside “adolescente”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18191, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

adolescent is recorded at frequency rank #6,677, classified as anadj, pronounced \a.dɔ.le.sɑ̃\. adolescente is at rank #11,514, tagged as anoun, pronounced \a.dɔ.lɛ.sɑ̃t\.

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 18191, this pair ranks #379,544 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of adolescent vs adolescente

Shared letters: acdelnost. Private to "adolescent": -. Private to "adolescente": -.

"adolescent" · 10 letters · shape VCVCVCCVCC  ·  "adolescente" · 11 letters · shape VCVCVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • adolescentaddolescent · adloescent · adoelscent · adolecsent · adolesccent · adolescennt · adolescentt · adolescetn
  • adolescenteaddolescente · adloescente · adoelscente · adolecsente · adolesccente · adolescenet · adolescennte · adolescentte

Frequency comparison

adolescent#6,677
adolescente#11,514

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "adolescent" and "adolescente" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "adolescent" is an adjective and "adolescente" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "adolescent" or "adolescente"?
"adolescent" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,677 in our French list, against #11,514 for "adolescente". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering adolescent vs adolescente

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “adolescent”; for a noun, it's “adolescente”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “adolescent” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list