Which to use
“gendre” and “gène” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,178
- “gendre” frequency rank
- #9,016
- “gène” frequency rank
- 22194
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gendre | gène |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Le mari de la fille ou du fils de quelqu’un. | Unité de base de l’information biologique qui se transmet de génération en génération. |
Where the eye mixes gendre and gène
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. gendre runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against gène's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses gendre with gène
A purely visual mix-up. gendre (\ʒɑ̃dʁ\) and gène (\ʒɛn\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22194, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gendre is recorded at frequency rank #13,178, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʒɑ̃dʁ\. gène is at rank #9,016, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʒɛn\.
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 22194, this pair ranks #359,358 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gendre vs gène
Shared letters: egn. Private to "gendre": dr. Private to "gène": è.
"gendre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "gène" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- gendre ← egndre · gednre · genddre · gendrre · genndre · genrde · ggendre · gnedre
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "gendre" and "gène" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "gendre" or "gène"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "gendre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gène" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #359,358 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gendre" and "gène" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gène vs glue". 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 #359,358 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.