bénéfice vs bénéficie, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“bénéfice” is a noun and “bénéficie” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,664
“bénéfice” frequency rank: #5,216
“bénéficie” frequency rank: 8880
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	bénéfice	bénéficie
Definition	Gain ou profit.	Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent du verbe bénéficier.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set bénéfice and bénéficie apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch

bénéfice

9 ch

bénéficie

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bénéfice is \be.ne.fis\ while bénéficie is \be.ne.fi.si\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8880, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bénéfice is recorded at frequency rank #3,664, classified as anoun, pronounced \be.ne.fis\. bénéficie is at rank #5,216, tagged as averb, pronounced \be.ne.fi.si\.

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 8880, this pair ranks #418,552 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bénéfice vs bénéficie

Shared letters: bcefiné. Private to "bénéfice": -. Private to "bénéficie": -.

"bénéfice" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV · "bénéficie" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVV

Frequency comparison

bénéfice#3,664

bénéficie#5,216

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bénéfice" and "bénéficie" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bénéfice" is a noun and "bénéficie" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "bénéfice" or "bénéficie"?

"bénéfice" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,664 in our French list, against #5,216 for "bénéficie". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering bénéfice vs bénéficie

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “bénéfice”; for a verb, it's “bénéficie”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “bénéfice” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable