informelsvsinformerWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: informels is a adjective, informer is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“informels” is an adjective and “informer” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,511
“informels” frequency rank
#4,584
“informer” frequency rank
49095
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature informels informer
Definition Masculin pluriel de informel. Instruire de quelque chose ; faire savoir quelque chose.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set informels and informer apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
informels
8 ch
informer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: informels is \ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mɛl\ while informer is \ɛ̃.fɔʁ.me\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49095, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

informels is recorded at frequency rank #44,511, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.fɔʁ.mɛl\. informer is at rank #4,584, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛ̃.fɔʁ.me\.

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 49095, this pair ranks #173,529 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of informels vs informer

Shared letters: efimnor. Private to "informels": ls. Private to "informer": -.

"informels" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC  ·  "informer" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • informelsifnormels · infformels · infomrels · inforemls · informells · informelss · informesl · informles
  • informerifnormer · infformer · infomrer · inforemr · informerr · informmer · informre · inforrmer

Frequency comparison

informels#44,511
informer#4,584

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "informels" and "informer" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "informels" is an adjective and "informer" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "informels" or "informer"?
"informer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,584 in our French list, against #44,511 for "informels". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering informels vs informer

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “informels”; for a verb, it's “informer”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “informels” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list