habilevshabillezWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: habile is a adjective, habillez is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“habile” is an adjective and “habillez” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,172
“habile” frequency rank
#44,488
“habillez” frequency rank
56660
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature habile habillez
Definition Adroit ; qui fait ce qu’il entreprend avec souplesse. Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de habiller.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set habile and habillez apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
habile
8 ch
habillez

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: habile is ^((h muet))\a.bil\ while habillez is \a.bi.je\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56660, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

habile is recorded at frequency rank #12,172, classified as anadj, pronounced ^((h muet))\a.bil\. habillez is at rank #44,488, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.bi.je\.

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 56660, this pair ranks #119,708 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of habile vs habillez

Shared letters: abehil. Private to "habile": -. Private to "habillez": z.

"habile" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "habillez" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • habileahbile · habbile · habiel · hablie · haible · hbaile · hhabile
  • habillezahbillez · habbillez · habilelz · habilez · habillezz · habillze · hablilez · haibllez

Frequency comparison

habile#12,172
habillez#44,488

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "habile" and "habillez" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "habile" is an adjective and "habillez" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "habile" or "habillez"?
"habile" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,172 in our French list, against #44,488 for "habillez". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering habile vs habillez

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “habile”; for a verb, it's “habillez”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “habile” 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