bâtardvsbâtardeWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#10,284
“bâtard” frequency rank
#44,919
“bâtarde” frequency rank
55203
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bâtard bâtarde
Definition Qui est né de parents non mariés ensemble. Écriture bâtarde.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
bâtard
7 ch
bâtarde

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bâtard is \bɑ.taʁ\ while bâtarde is \bɑ.taʁd\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “bâtard” sits inside “bâtarde”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55203, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bâtard is recorded at frequency rank #10,284, classified as anadj, pronounced \bɑ.taʁ\. bâtarde is at rank #44,919, tagged as anoun, pronounced \bɑ.taʁd\.

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 55203, this pair ranks #128,982 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of bâtard vs bâtarde

Shared letters: abdrtâ. Private to "bâtard": -. Private to "bâtarde": e.

"bâtard" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "bâtarde" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Frequency comparison

bâtard#10,284
bâtarde#44,919

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bâtard" and "bâtarde" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bâtard" is an adjective and "bâtarde" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "bâtard" or "bâtarde"?
"bâtard" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,284 in our French list, against #44,919 for "bâtarde". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering bâtard vs bâtarde

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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