Which to use
“alimente” and “alimenter” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,193
- “alimente” frequency rank
- #7,648
- “alimenter” frequency rank
- 21841
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | alimente | alimenter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent du verbe alimenter. | Nourrir ; pourvoir des aliments nécessaires. |
Where the eye mixes alimente and alimenter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. alimente runs 8 letters (VCVCVCCV) against alimenter's 9 (VCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: alimente vs alimenter
A purely visual mix-up. alimente (\a.li.mɑ̃t\) and alimenter (\a.li.mɑ̃.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 1 extra letter(s) - “alimente” sits inside “alimenter”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21841, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
alimente is recorded at frequency rank #14,193, classified as averb, pronounced \a.li.mɑ̃t\. alimenter is at rank #7,648, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.li.mɑ̃.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 21841, this pair ranks #361,160 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of alimente vs alimenter
Shared letters: aeilmnt. Private to "alimente": -. Private to "alimenter": r.
"alimente" · 8 letters · shape VCVCVCCV · "alimenter" · 9 letters · shape VCVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "alimente" and "alimenter" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "alimente" vs "alimenter" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "alimente" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "alimenter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #361,160 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "alimente" and "alimenter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aliéné vs alimente". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #361,160 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.