conduirevsconduiteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: conduire is a verb, conduite is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#2,267
“conduire” frequency rank
#2,169
“conduite” frequency rank
4436
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature conduire conduite
Definition Mener, guider, diriger vers un lieu déterminé. Action de conduire, de mener, de guider, d’accompagner.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set conduire and conduite apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
conduire
8 ch
conduite

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: conduire is \kɔ̃.dɥiʁ\ while conduite is \kɔ̃.dɥit\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - r in “conduire” becomes t in “conduite”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4436, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

conduire is recorded at frequency rank #2,267, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.dɥiʁ\. conduite is at rank #2,169, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.dɥit\.

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 4436, this pair ranks #431,621 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of conduire vs conduite

Shared letters: cdeinou. Private to "conduire": r. Private to "conduite": t.

"conduire" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV  ·  "conduite" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • conduirecconduire · cnoduire · codnuire · condduire · condiure · conduier · conduirre · condurie
  • conduitecconduite · cnoduite · codnuite · condduite · condiute · conduiet · conduitte · condutie

Frequency comparison

conduire#2,267
conduite#2,169

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "conduire" and "conduite" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "conduire" is a verb and "conduite" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "conduire" or "conduite"?
"conduite" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,169 in our French list, against #2,267 for "conduire". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering conduire vs conduite

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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