Which to use
“compétente” and “compétentes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,995
- “compétente” frequency rank
- #17,099
- “compétentes” frequency rank
- 31094
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | compétente | compétentes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de compétent. | Féminin pluriel de compétent. |
Same sound, different letters: compétente vs compétentes
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 10 letters. compétente runs 10 letters (CVCCVCVCCV) against compétentes's 11 (CVCCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - compétente / compétentes
This is the hard kind. compétente and compétentes are pronounced identically (\kɔ̃.pe.tɑ̃t\) and both work as anadjective. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “compétente” sits inside “compétentes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31094, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
compétente is recorded at frequency rank #13,995, classified as anadj, pronounced \kɔ̃.pe.tɑ̃t\. compétentes is at rank #17,099, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kɔ̃.pe.tɑ̃t\.
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 31094, this pair ranks #306,020 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of compétente vs compétentes
Shared letters: cemnopté. Private to "compétente": -. Private to "compétentes": s.
"compétente" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCV · "compétentes" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "compétente" and "compétentes" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "compétente" or "compétentes"?
Useful next steps
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "compétente" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "compétentes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #306,020 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "compétente" and "compétentes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "compétentes vs compétents". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #306,020 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.