Which to use
“importe” and “importer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #462
- “importe” frequency rank
- #15,412
- “importer” frequency rank
- 15874
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | importe | importer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de importer. | Apporter, introduire dans un pays des productions étrangères. |
Where the eye mixes importe and importer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: importe vs importer
A purely visual mix-up. importe (\ɛ̃.pɔʁt\) and importer (\ɛ̃.pɔʁ.te\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “importe” sits inside “importer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15874, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
importe is recorded at frequency rank #462, classified as averb, pronounced \ɛ̃.pɔʁt\. importer is at rank #15,412, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛ̃.pɔʁ.te\.
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 15874, this pair ranks #390,460 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of importe vs importer
Shared letters: eimoprt. Private to "importe": -. Private to "importer": -.
"importe" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "importer" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "importe" and "importer" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "importe" vs "importer" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "importe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "importer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #390,460 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "importe" and "importer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "implorer vs importer". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #390,460 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.