ennemivsennemiesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ennemi is a noun, ennemies is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#2,223
“ennemi” frequency rank
#15,620
“ennemies” frequency rank
17843
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ennemi ennemies
Definition Concept antagoniste, en conflit avec un autre. Féminin pluriel de ennemi.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
ennemi
8 ch
ennemies

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: ennemi and ennemies carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ɛn.mi\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “ennemi” sits inside “ennemies”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17843, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ennemi is recorded at frequency rank #2,223, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛn.mi\. ennemies is at rank #15,620, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛn.mi\.

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 17843, this pair ranks #381,199 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ennemi vs ennemies

Shared letters: eimn. Private to "ennemi": -. Private to "ennemies": s.

"ennemi" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "ennemies" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ennemienemi · enenmi · enneim · ennemmi · ennmei · nenemi
  • ennemiesenemies · enenmies · enneimes · ennemeis · ennemiess · ennemise · ennemmies · ennmeies

Frequency comparison

ennemi#2,223
ennemies#15,620

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ennemi" and "ennemies" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ennemi" is a noun and "ennemies" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ennemi" or "ennemies"?
"ennemi" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,223 in our French list, against #15,620 for "ennemies". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ennemi vs ennemies

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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