alimentervsaugmenterConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#7,648
“alimenter” frequency rank
#1,900
“augmenter” frequency rank
9548
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alimenter augmenter
Definition Nourrir ; pourvoir des aliments nécessaires. Rendre une quantité plus grande.

Where the eye mixes alimenter and augmenter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
alimenter
9 ch
augmenter

Look-alike desk: alimenter vs augmenter

A purely visual mix-up. alimenter (\a.li.mɑ̃.te\) and augmenter (\oɡ.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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9548, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alimenter is recorded at frequency rank #7,648, classified as averb, pronounced \a.li.mɑ̃.te\. augmenter is at rank #1,900, tagged as averb, pronounced \oɡ.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 9548, this pair ranks #416,254 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of alimenter vs augmenter

Shared letters: aemnrt. Private to "alimenter": il. Private to "augmenter": gu.

"alimenter" · 9 letters · shape VCVCVCCVC  ·  "augmenter" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alimenterailmenter · aliemnter · alimenetr · alimennter · alimenterr · alimentre · alimentter · alimetner
  • augmenteragumenter · augemnter · auggmenter · augmenetr · augmennter · augmenterr · augmentre · augmentter

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "alimenter" for "augmenter" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\a.li.mɑ̃.te\ versus \oɡ.mɑ̃.te\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "alimenter" vs "augmenter" - which ranks higher?
"augmenter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,900 in our French list, against #7,648 for "alimenter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "alimenter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "augmenter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #416,254 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alimenter" and "augmenter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "augmenta vs augmenter". 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 #416,254 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list