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 spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gentil and gentille apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
gentil and gentille form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “gentil” sits inside “gentille” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. 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.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "gentil" and "gentille" be used interchangeably?
Remembering gentil vs gentille
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “gentil”; for a noun, it's “gentille”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gentil” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable