Which to use
“inférieur” and “inférieures” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,764
- “inférieur” frequency rank
- #11,075
- “inférieures” frequency rank
- 14839
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | inférieur | inférieures |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est placé au-dessous, en bas. | Féminin pluriel de inférieur. |
Same sound, different letters: inférieur vs inférieures
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 9 letters. inférieur runs 9 letters (VCCVCVVVC) against inférieures's 11 (VCCVCVVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: inférieur vs inférieures
This is the hard kind. inférieur and inférieures are pronounced identically (\ɛ̃.fe.ʁjœʁ\) and both work as anadjective. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “inférieur” sits inside “inférieures”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14839, 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\. inférieures is at rank #11,075, tagged as anadj, 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 14839, this pair ranks #394,995 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of inférieur vs inférieures
Shared letters: efinrué. Private to "inférieur": -. Private to "inférieures": s.
"inférieur" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVVVC · "inférieures" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCVVVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "inférieur" for "inférieures" ever safe?
Which is more common, "inférieur" or "inférieures"?
What to do next
"inférieur" and "inférieures" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "inférieur" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "inférieures" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #394,995 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "inférieur" and "inférieures" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "inférieures vs intérieures". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #394,995 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.