inquiètentvsinquiètesConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#16,653
“inquiètent” frequency rank
#10,724
“inquiètes” frequency rank
27377
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature inquiètent inquiètes
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de inquiéter. Féminin pluriel de inquiet.

Same sound, different letters: inquiètent vs inquiètes

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 8 letters. inquiètent runs 10 letters (VCCVVVCVCC) against inquiètes's 9 (VCCVVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
inquiètent
9 ch
inquiètes

Ear matches; page differs - inquiètent and inquiètes

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: inquiètent and inquiètes carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ɛ̃.kjɛt\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27377, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

inquiètent is recorded at frequency rank #16,653, classified as averb, 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 27377, this pair ranks #329,362 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of inquiètent vs inquiètes

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

"inquiètent" · 10 letters · shape VCCVVVCVCC  ·  "inquiètes" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "inquiètent" and "inquiètes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "inquiètent" is a verb and "inquiètes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "inquiètent" vs "inquiètes" - which ranks higher?
"inquiètes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,724 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.

What to do next

"inquiètent" and "inquiètes" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.

  • Full dictionary entry for "inquiètent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "inquiètes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #329,362 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "inquiètent" and "inquiètes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "inquiétaient vs inquiètent". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #329,362 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list