filtrevsfiltrerTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#6,298
“filtre” frequency rank
#18,751
“filtrer” frequency rank
25049
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature filtre filtrer
Definition Corps poreux (feutre, papier, charbon, etc.) au travers duquel on fait passer une substance liquide, gazeuse ou corpusculaire (la lumière, le courant électrique), pour la clarifier, l’épurer ou en séparer certains éléments. Passer par un filtre pour séparer un ou des éléments constituants.

Where the eye mixes filtre and filtrer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. filtre runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against filtrer's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
filtre
7 ch
filtrer

Visual trap between filtre and filtrer

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: filtre is \filtʁ\ while filtrer is \fil.tʁe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “filtre” sits inside “filtrer”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25049, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

filtre is recorded at frequency rank #6,298, classified as anoun, pronounced \filtʁ\. filtrer is at rank #18,751, tagged as averb, pronounced \fil.tʁe\.

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 25049, this pair ranks #343,083 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of filtre vs filtrer

Shared letters: efilrt. Private to "filtre": -. Private to "filtrer": -.

"filtre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "filtrer" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • filtre ← ffiltre · filltre · filrte · filter · filtrre · filttre · fitlre · flitre
  • filtrer ← ffiltrer · filltrer · filrter · filterr · filtrerr · filtrrer · filttrer · fitlrer

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "filtre" and "filtrer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "filtre" is a noun and "filtrer" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "filtre" vs "filtrer" - which ranks higher?
"filtre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,298 in our French list, against #18,751 for "filtrer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "filtre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "filtrer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #343,083 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "filtre" and "filtrer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "filtrée vs filtrer". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #343,083 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list