inquiètevsinquiètesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: inquiète is a noun, inquiètes is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“inquiète” is a noun and “inquiètes” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,129
“inquiète” frequency rank
#10,724
“inquiètes” frequency rank
12853
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature inquiète inquiètes
Definition Personne inquiète. Féminin pluriel de inquiet.

Where the spellings diverge

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

8 ch
inquiète
9 ch
inquiètes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: inquiète and inquiètes carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ɛ̃.kjɛt\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “inquiète” sits inside “inquiètes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12853, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

inquiète is recorded at frequency rank #2,129, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃.kjɛt\. inquiètes is at rank #10,724, tagged as anadj, 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 12853, this pair ranks #403,483 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of inquiète vs inquiètes

Shared letters: einqtuè. Private to "inquiète": -. Private to "inquiètes": s.

"inquiète" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVVCV  ·  "inquiètes" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVVCVC

Frequency comparison

inquiète#2,129
inquiètes#10,724

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "inquiète" and "inquiètes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "inquiète" is a noun and "inquiètes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "inquiète" or "inquiètes"?
"inquiète" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,129 in our French list, against #10,724 for "inquiètes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering inquiète vs inquiètes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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