hiérarchiesvshiérarchiquesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: hiérarchies is a noun, hiérarchiques is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#38,342
“hiérarchies” frequency rank
#33,286
“hiérarchiques” frequency rank
71628
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hiérarchies hiérarchiques
Definition Pluriel de hiérarchie. Pluriel de hiérarchique.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hiérarchies and hiérarchiques apart are highlighted. They share 11 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

11 ch
hiérarchies
13 ch
hiérarchiques

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hiérarchies is ^((h aspiré))\je.ʁaʁ.ʃi\ while hiérarchiques is ^((h aspiré))\je.ʁaʁ.ʃik\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71628, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hiérarchies is recorded at frequency rank #38,342, classified as anoun, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\je.ʁaʁ.ʃi\. hiérarchiques is at rank #33,286, tagged as anadj, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\je.ʁaʁ.ʃik\.

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 71628, this pair ranks #46,894 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hiérarchies vs hiérarchiques

Shared letters: acehirsé. Private to "hiérarchies": -. Private to "hiérarchiques": qu.

"hiérarchies" · 11 letters · shape CVVCVCCCVVC  ·  "hiérarchiques" · 13 letters · shape CVVCVCCCVCVVC

Frequency comparison

hiérarchies#38,342
hiérarchiques#33,286

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hiérarchies" and "hiérarchiques" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hiérarchies" is a noun and "hiérarchiques" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hiérarchies" or "hiérarchiques"?
"hiérarchiques" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,286 in our French list, against #38,342 for "hiérarchies". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hiérarchies vs hiérarchiques

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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