improvisevsimprovisésWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: improvise is a verb, improvisés is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#25,360
“improvise” frequency rank
#39,844
“improvisés” frequency rank
65204
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature improvise improvisés
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de improviser. Masculin pluriel de improvisé.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set improvise and improvisés apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
improvise
10 ch
improvisés

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: improvise is \ɛ̃.pʁɔ.viz\ while improvisés is \ɛ̃.pʁɔ.vi.ze\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65204, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

improvise is recorded at frequency rank #25,360, classified as averb, pronounced \ɛ̃.pʁɔ.viz\. improvisés is at rank #39,844, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.pʁɔ.vi.ze\.

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 65204, this pair ranks #73,380 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of improvise vs improvisés

Shared letters: imoprsv. Private to "improvise": e. Private to "improvisés": é.

"improvise" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCVCV  ·  "improvisés" · 10 letters · shape VCCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • improviseimmprovise · imporvise · impprovise · improivse · improvies · improvisse · improvsie · improvvise

Frequency comparison

improvise#25,360
improvisés#39,844

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "improvise" and "improvisés" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "improvise" is a verb and "improvisés" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "improvise" or "improvisés"?
"improvise" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,360 in our French list, against #39,844 for "improvisés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering improvise vs improvisés

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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