alertvsalertésWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#38,128
“alert” frequency rank
#46,571
“alertés” frequency rank
84699
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alert alertés
Definition Alerte Masculin pluriel de alerté.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set alert and alertés apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
alert
7 ch
alertés

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. alert (\aˈlɛʁt\) and alertés (\a.lɛʁ.te\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “alert” sits inside “alertés”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84699, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alert is recorded at frequency rank #38,128, classified as anadj, pronounced \aˈlɛʁt\. alertés is at rank #46,571, tagged as anadj, pronounced \a.lɛʁ.te\.

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 84699, this pair ranks #12,514 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alert vs alertés

Shared letters: aelrt. Private to "alert": -. Private to "alertés": .

"alert" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC  ·  "alertés" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alertaelrt · alerrt · alertt · allert · alret · laert

Frequency comparison

alert#38,128
alertés#46,571

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alert" and "alertés" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\aˈlɛʁt\ versus \a.lɛʁ.te\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "alert" or "alertés"?
"alert" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,128 in our French list, against #46,571 for "alertés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering alert vs alertés

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 “alert” 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