gourmandesvsgourmandiseWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: gourmandes is a adjective, gourmandise is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gourmandes” is an adjective and “gourmandise” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,826
“gourmandes” frequency rank
#25,668
“gourmandise” frequency rank
64494
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gourmandes gourmandise
Definition Féminin pluriel de gourmand. Défaut de celui qui est gourmand, qui mange plus que de raison.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gourmandes and gourmandise apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
gourmandes
11 ch
gourmandise

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gourmandes is \ɡuʁ.mɑ̃d\ while gourmandise is \ɡuʁ.mɑ̃.diz\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64494, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gourmandes is recorded at frequency rank #38,826, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɡuʁ.mɑ̃d\. gourmandise is at rank #25,668, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡuʁ.mɑ̃.diz\.

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 64494, this pair ranks #76,792 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of gourmandes vs gourmandise

Shared letters: adegmnorsu. Private to "gourmandes": -. Private to "gourmandise": i.

"gourmandes" · 10 letters · shape CVVCCVCCVC  ·  "gourmandise" · 11 letters · shape CVVCCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gourmandesggourmandes · gorumandes · goumrandes · gouramndes · gourmadnes · gourmanddes · gourmandess · gourmandse
  • gourmandiseggourmandise · gorumandise · goumrandise · gouramndise · gourmadnise · gourmanddise · gourmandies · gourmandisse

Frequency comparison

gourmandes#38,826
gourmandise#25,668

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gourmandes" and "gourmandise" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gourmandes" is an adjective and "gourmandise" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gourmandes" or "gourmandise"?
"gourmandise" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,668 in our French list, against #38,826 for "gourmandes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering gourmandes vs gourmandise

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “gourmandes”; for a noun, it's “gourmandise”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gourmandes” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list