Which to use
“inférieures” and “intérieures” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,075
- “inférieures” frequency rank
- #10,895
- “intérieures” frequency rank
- 21970
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | inférieures | intérieures |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de inférieur. | Féminin pluriel de intérieur. |
Where the eye mixes inférieures and intérieures
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. inférieures and intérieures follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses inférieures with intérieures
A purely visual mix-up. inférieures (\ɛ̃.fe.ʁjœʁ\) and intérieures (\ɛ̃.tɛ.ʁjœʁ\) 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 - f in “inférieures” becomes t in “intérieures”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21970, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
inférieures is recorded at frequency rank #11,075, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.fe.ʁjœʁ\. intérieures is at rank #10,895, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.tɛ.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 21970, this pair ranks #360,470 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of inférieures vs intérieures
Shared letters: einrsué. Private to "inférieures": f. Private to "intérieures": t.
"inférieures" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCVVVCVC · "intérieures" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCVVVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "inférieures" for "intérieures" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "inférieures" or "intérieures" show up more?
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 "inférieures" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "intérieures" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #360,470 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "inférieures" and "intérieures" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "inférieures vs intérieurs". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #360,470 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.