généralisevsgénéraliserTell them apart

Which to use

“généralise” and “généraliser” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#24,619
“généralise” frequency rank
#16,898
“généraliser” frequency rank
41517
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature généralise généraliser
Definition Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent du verbe généraliser. Donner un caractère général.

Where the eye mixes généralise and généraliser

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. généralise runs 10 letters (CVCVCVCVCV) against généraliser's 11 (CVCVCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
généralise
11 ch
généraliser

Look-alike desk: généralise vs généraliser

A purely visual mix-up. généralise (\ʒe.ne.ʁa.liz\) and généraliser (\ʒe.ne.ʁa.li.ze\) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “généralise” sits inside “généraliser”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41517, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

généralise is recorded at frequency rank #24,619, classified as averb, pronounced \ʒe.ne.ʁa.liz\. généraliser is at rank #16,898, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʒe.ne.ʁa.li.ze\.

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 41517, this pair ranks #232,511 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of généralise vs généraliser

Shared letters: aegilnrsé. Private to "généralise": -. Private to "généraliser": -.

"généralise" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVCV  ·  "généraliser" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "généralise" and "généraliser" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʒe.ne.ʁa.liz\ versus \ʒe.ne.ʁa.li.ze\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "généralise" vs "généraliser" - which ranks higher?
"généraliser" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,898 in our French list, against #24,619 for "généralise". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "généralise" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "généraliser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #232,511 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "généralise" and "généraliser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "generali vs généralise". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #232,511 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