altéréevsaltérerWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: altérée is a adjective, altérer is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“altérée” is an adjective and “altérer” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#35,804
“altérée” frequency rank
#22,157
“altérer” frequency rank
57961
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature altérée altérer
Definition Féminin singulier de altéré. Modifier dans sa nature, dans sa structure, un corps.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set altérée and altérer apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
altérée
7 ch
altérer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: altérée and altérer carry the same recorded pronunciation, \al.te.ʁe\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57961, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

altérée is recorded at frequency rank #35,804, classified as anadj, pronounced \al.te.ʁe\. altérer is at rank #22,157, tagged as averb, pronounced \al.te.ʁe\.

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 57961, this pair ranks #111,885 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of altérée vs altérer

Shared letters: aelrté. Private to "altérée": -. Private to "altérer": -.

"altérée" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVV  ·  "altérer" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Frequency comparison

altérée#35,804
altérer#22,157

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "altérée" and "altérer" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "altérée" is an adjective and "altérer" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "altérée" or "altérer"?
"altérer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,157 in our French list, against #35,804 for "altérée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering altérée vs altérer

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “altérée”; for a verb, it's “altérer”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “altérée” 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