Which to use
“aliment” is a noun and “alimente” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,727
- “aliment” frequency rank
- #14,193
- “alimente” frequency rank
- 27920
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aliment | alimente |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ce qui se mange et sert à entretenir la vie. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent du verbe alimenter. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set aliment and alimente apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aliment is \a.li.mɑ̃\ while alimente is \a.li.mɑ̃t\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “aliment” sits inside “alimente”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27920, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
aliment is recorded at frequency rank #13,727, classified as anoun, pronounced \a.li.mɑ̃\. alimente is at rank #14,193, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.li.mɑ̃t\.
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 27920, this pair ranks #325,952 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of aliment vs alimente
Shared letters: aeilmnt. Private to "aliment": -. Private to "alimente": -.
"aliment" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCC · "alimente" · 8 letters · shape VCVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "aliment" and "alimente" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "aliment" or "alimente"?
Remembering aliment vs alimente
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “aliment”; for a verb, it's “alimente”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “aliment” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable