inquiétantevsinquiètentWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#15,168
“inquiétante” frequency rank
#16,653
“inquiètent” frequency rank
31821
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature inquiétante inquiètent
Definition Féminin singulier de inquiétant. Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de inquiéter.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set inquiétante and inquiètent apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

11 ch
inquiétante
10 ch
inquiètent

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: inquiétante is \ɛ̃.kje.tɑ̃t\ while inquiètent is \ɛ̃.kjɛt\. 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 31821, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

inquiétante is recorded at frequency rank #15,168, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.kje.tɑ̃t\. inquiètent is at rank #16,653, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛ̃.kjɛt\.

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 31821, this pair ranks #301,339 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of inquiétante vs inquiètent

Shared letters: einqtu. Private to "inquiétante": . Private to "inquiètent": è.

"inquiétante" · 11 letters · shape VCCVVVCVCCV  ·  "inquiètent" · 10 letters · shape VCCVVVCVCC

Frequency comparison

inquiétante#15,168
inquiètent#16,653

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "inquiétante" and "inquiètent" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "inquiétante" is an adjective and "inquiètent" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "inquiétante" or "inquiètent"?
"inquiétante" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,168 in our French list, against #16,653 for "inquiètent". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering inquiétante vs inquiètent

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “inquiétante”; for a verb, it's “inquiètent”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “inquiétante” 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