Which to use
“inférieur” is an adjective and “inférieure” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,764
- “inférieur” frequency rank
- #4,338
- “inférieure” frequency rank
- 8102
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | inférieur | inférieure |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est placé au-dessous, en bas. | Celle qui est située en-dessous. |
Same sound, different letters: inférieur vs inférieure
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 9 letters. inférieur runs 9 letters (VCCVCVVVC) against inférieure's 10 (VCCVCVVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - inférieur / inférieure
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: inférieur and inférieure carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ɛ̃.fe.ʁjœʁ\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “inférieur” sits inside “inférieure”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8102, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
inférieur is recorded at frequency rank #3,764, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.fe.ʁjœʁ\. inférieure is at rank #4,338, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃.fe.ʁjœʁ\.
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 8102, this pair ranks #421,128 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of inférieur vs inférieure
Shared letters: efinrué. Private to "inférieur": -. Private to "inférieure": -.
"inférieur" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVVVC · "inférieure" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVVVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "inférieur" and "inférieure" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "inférieur" vs "inférieure" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "inférieur" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "inférieure" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #421,128 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "inférieur" and "inférieure" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "inférieure vs ingénieure". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #421,128 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.