amplevsapteConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#17,613
“ample” frequency rank
#12,518
“apte” frequency rank
30131
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ample apte
Definition Qui dépasse en largeur et en longueur la mesure ordinaire. Qui est propre à quelque chose.

Where the eye mixes ample and apte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
ample
4 ch
apte

Visual trap between ample and apte

A purely visual mix-up. ample (\ɑ̃pl\) and apte (\apt\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30131, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ample is recorded at frequency rank #17,613, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɑ̃pl\. apte is at rank #12,518, tagged as anadj, pronounced \apt\.

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 30131, this pair ranks #312,302 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ample vs apte

Shared letters: aep. Private to "ample": lm. Private to "apte": t.

"ample" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV  ·  "apte" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ampleamlpe · ammple · ampel · amplle · ampple · apmle
  • apteapet · appte · atpe

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ample" and "apte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ɑ̃pl\ versus \apt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ample" vs "apte" - which ranks higher?
"apte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,518 in our French list, against #17,613 for "ample". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ample" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "apte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #312,302 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ample" and "apte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ampère vs ample". 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 #312,302 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