approfondirvsapprofondisWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: approfondir is a verb, approfondis is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#10,824
“approfondir” frequency rank
#45,437
“approfondis” frequency rank
56261
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature approfondir approfondis
Definition Rendre plus profond, creuser plus avant. Masculin pluriel de approfondi.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set approfondir and approfondis apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

11 ch
approfondir
11 ch
approfondis

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: approfondir is \a.pʁɔ.fɔ̃.diʁ\ while approfondis is \a.pʁɔ.fɔ̃.di\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - r in “approfondir” becomes s in “approfondis”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56261, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

approfondir is recorded at frequency rank #10,824, classified as averb, pronounced \a.pʁɔ.fɔ̃.diʁ\. approfondis is at rank #45,437, tagged as anadj, pronounced \a.pʁɔ.fɔ̃.di\.

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 56261, this pair ranks #122,209 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of approfondir vs approfondis

Shared letters: adfinopr. Private to "approfondir": -. Private to "approfondis": s.

"approfondir" · 11 letters · shape VCCCVCVCCVC  ·  "approfondis" · 11 letters · shape VCCCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • approfondirapporfondir · apprfoondir · approffondir · approfnodir · approfodnir · approfonddir · approfondirr · approfondri
  • approfondisapporfondis · apprfoondis · approffondis · approfnodis · approfodnis · approfonddis · approfondiss · approfondsi

Frequency comparison

approfondir#10,824
approfondis#45,437

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "approfondir" and "approfondis" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "approfondir" is a verb and "approfondis" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "approfondir" or "approfondis"?
"approfondir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,824 in our French list, against #45,437 for "approfondis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering approfondir vs approfondis

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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