Which to use
“gentil” is an adjective and “gentille” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,280
- “gentil” frequency rank
- #5,561
- “gentille” frequency rank
- 7841
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gentil | gentille |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Agréable, charmant, mignon, aimable. Qui a une certaine grâce, un certain agrément délicat. | Personnage féminin d’une œuvre de fiction qui incarne le bien, par opposition à la méchante qui fait le mal. |
Where the eye mixes gentil and gentille
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between gentil and gentille
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gentil is \ʒɑ̃.ti\ while gentille is \ʒɑ̃.tij\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “gentil” sits inside “gentille”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7841, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gentil is recorded at frequency rank #2,280, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʒɑ̃.ti\. gentille is at rank #5,561, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʒɑ̃.tij\.
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 7841, this pair ranks #421,972 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gentil vs gentille
Shared letters: egilnt. Private to "gentil": -. Private to "gentille": -.
"gentil" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "gentille" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "gentil" and "gentille" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "gentil" or "gentille" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "gentil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gentille" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #421,972 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gentil" and "gentille" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gentil vs gents". 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 #421,972 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.