Which to use
“incompétence” is a noun and “incompétents” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,616
- “incompétence” frequency rank
- #27,482
- “incompétents” frequency rank
- 41098
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | incompétence | incompétents |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Défaut, manque de compétence. | Masculin pluriel de incompétent. |
Where the eye mixes incompétence and incompétents
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. incompétence (VCCVCCVCVCCV) and incompétents (VCCVCCVCVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between incompétence and incompétents
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: incompétence is \ɛ̃.kɔ̃.pe.tɑ̃s\ while incompétents is \ɛ̃.kɔ̃.pe.tɑ̃\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41098, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
incompétence is recorded at frequency rank #13,616, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃.kɔ̃.pe.tɑ̃s\. incompétents is at rank #27,482, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.kɔ̃.pe.tɑ̃\.
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 41098, this pair ranks #235,571 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of incompétence vs incompétents
Shared letters: ceimnopté. Private to "incompétence": -. Private to "incompétents": s.
"incompétence" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVCCV · "incompétents" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVCCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "incompétence" for "incompétents" ever safe?
Which is more common, "incompétence" or "incompétents"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "incompétence" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "incompétents" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #235,571 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "incompétence" and "incompétents" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "incompétente vs incompétents". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #235,571 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.