inaptevsinviteWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: inapte is a adjective, invite is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#32,443
“inapte” frequency rank
#2,581
“invite” frequency rank
35024
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature inapte invite
Definition Qui n’est pas apte. Invitation.

Where the eye mixes inapte and invite

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. inapte (VCVCCV) and invite (VCCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
inapte
6 ch
invite

Look-alike desk: inapte vs invite

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: inapte is \i.napt\ while invite is \ɛ̃.vit\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35024, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

inapte is recorded at frequency rank #32,443, classified as anadj, pronounced \i.napt\. invite is at rank #2,581, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃.vit\.

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 35024, this pair ranks #279,714 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of inapte vs invite

Shared letters: eint. Private to "inapte": ap. Private to "invite": v.

"inapte" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "invite" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • inapte ← ianpte · inapet · inappte · inaptte · inatpe · innapte · inpate · niapte
  • invite ← inivte · innvite · inviet · invitte · invtie · invvite · ivnite · nivite

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "inapte" and "invite" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "inapte" is an adjective and "invite" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "inapte" or "invite" show up more?
"invite" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,581 in our French list, against #32,443 for "inapte". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "inapte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "invite" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #279,714 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "inapte" and "invite" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "inapte vs inaptes". 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 #279,714 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