idéesvsindexésTell them apart

Quick tell: idées is a noun, indexés is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“idées” is a noun and “indexés” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#804
“idées” frequency rank
#49,147
“indexés” frequency rank
49951
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature idées indexés
Definition Pluriel de idée. Participe passé masculin pluriel du verbe indexer.

Where the eye mixes idées and indexés

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. idées runs 5 letters (VCVVC) against indexés's 7 (VCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
idées
7 ch
indexés

Look-alike desk: idées vs indexés

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: idées is \i.de\ while indexés is \ɛ̃.dɛk.se\. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49951, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

idées is recorded at frequency rank #804, classified as anoun, pronounced \i.de\. indexés is at rank #49,147, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛ̃.dɛk.se\.

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 49951, this pair ranks #166,537 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of idées vs indexés

Shared letters: deisé. Private to "idées": -. Private to "indexés": nx.

"idées" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC  ·  "indexés" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "idées" for "indexés" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "idées" is a noun and "indexés" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "idées" or "indexés"?
"idées" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #804 in our French list, against #49,147 for "indexés". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "idées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "indexés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #166,537 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "idées" and "indexés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "indexé vs indexés". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #166,537 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list