Which to use
“incompétente” and “incompétents” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,836
- “incompétente” frequency rank
- #27,482
- “incompétents” frequency rank
- 69318
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | incompétente | incompétents |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de incompétent. | Masculin pluriel de incompétent. |
Where the eye mixes incompétente and incompétents
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. incompétente (VCCVCCVCVCCV) and incompétents (VCCVCCVCVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses incompétente with incompétents
A purely visual mix-up. incompétente (\ɛ̃.kɔ̃.pe.tɑ̃t\) and incompétents (\ɛ̃.kɔ̃.pe.tɑ̃\) 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 a single letter - e in “incompétente” becomes s in “incompétents”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69318, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
incompétente is recorded at frequency rank #41,836, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.kɔ̃.pe.tɑ̃t\. 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 69318, this pair ranks #55,605 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of incompétente vs incompétents
Shared letters: ceimnopté. Private to "incompétente": -. Private to "incompétents": s.
"incompétente" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVCCV · "incompétents" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVCCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "incompétente" for "incompétents" ever safe?
Frequency check: "incompétente" vs "incompétents" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "incompétente" 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 #55,605 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "incompétente" and "incompétents" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "incompétent vs incompétente". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #55,605 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.