automatesvsautoritésWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: automates is a adjective, autorités is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“automates” is an adjective and “autorités” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,358
“automates” frequency rank
#1,849
“autorités” frequency rank
33207
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature automates autorités
Definition Pluriel de automate. Pluriel de autorité.

Where the spellings diverge

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

9 ch
automates
9 ch
autorités

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: automates is \ɔ.tɔ.mat\ while autorités is \ɔ.tɔ.ʁi.te\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33207, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

automates is recorded at frequency rank #31,358, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɔ.tɔ.mat\. autorités is at rank #1,849, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɔ.tɔ.ʁi.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 33207, this pair ranks #292,166 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of automates vs autorités

Shared letters: aostu. Private to "automates": em. Private to "autorités": iré.

"automates" · 9 letters · shape VVCVCVCVC  ·  "autorités" · 9 letters · shape VVCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • automatesatuomates · auotmates · autmoates · autoamtes · automaets · automatess · automatse · automattes

Frequency comparison

automates#31,358
autorités#1,849

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "automates" and "autorités" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "automates" is an adjective and "autorités" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "automates" or "autorités"?
"autorités" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,849 in our French list, against #31,358 for "automates". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering automates vs autorités

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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