Which to use
“imprimer” is a verb and “imprimerie” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,579
- “imprimer” frequency rank
- #8,863
- “imprimerie” frequency rank
- 16442
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | imprimer | imprimerie |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Faire ou laisser une empreinte sur quelque chose, y marquer des traits, une figure. | Art d’imprimer, techniques d’impression permettant la reproduction, à un nombre quelconque d'exemplaires, de textes, de signes ou d’images sur un support (papier, textile, etc.) |
Where the eye mixes imprimer and imprimerie
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. imprimer runs 8 letters (VCCCVCVC) against imprimerie's 10 (VCCCVCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses imprimer with imprimerie
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: imprimer is \ɛ̃.pʁi.me\ while imprimerie is \ɛ̃.pʁim.ʁi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “imprimer” sits inside “imprimerie”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16442, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
imprimer is recorded at frequency rank #7,579, classified as averb, pronounced \ɛ̃.pʁi.me\. imprimerie is at rank #8,863, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃.pʁim.ʁi\.
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 16442, this pair ranks #387,828 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of imprimer vs imprimerie
Shared letters: eimpr. Private to "imprimer": -. Private to "imprimerie": -.
"imprimer" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC · "imprimerie" · 10 letters · shape VCCCVCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- imprimer ← immprimer · impirmer · impprimer · impriemr · imprimerr · imprimmer · imprimre · imprmier
- imprimerie ← immprimerie · impirmerie · impprimerie · impriemrie · imprimeire · imprimerei · imprimerrie · imprimmerie
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "imprimer" and "imprimerie" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "imprimer" or "imprimerie"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "imprimer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "imprimerie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #387,828 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "imprimer" and "imprimerie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "imprimer vs imprimeurs". 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 #387,828 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.