Which to use
“inscrire” and “inspire” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,684
- “inscrire” frequency rank
- #5,468
- “inspire” frequency rank
- 9152
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | inscrire | inspire |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Écrire le nom de quelqu’un, ou prendre note, faire mention de quelque chose sur un registre, sur une liste, etc. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de inspirer. |
Where the eye mixes inscrire and inspire
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. inscrire runs 8 letters (VCCCCVCV) against inspire's 7 (VCCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: inscrire vs inspire
A purely visual mix-up. inscrire (\ɛ̃s.kʁiʁ\) and inspire (\ɛ̃s.piʁ\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9152, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
inscrire is recorded at frequency rank #3,684, classified as averb, pronounced \ɛ̃s.kʁiʁ\. inspire is at rank #5,468, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛ̃s.piʁ\.
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 9152, this pair ranks #417,633 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of inscrire vs inspire
Shared letters: einrs. Private to "inscrire": c. Private to "inspire": p.
"inscrire" · 8 letters · shape VCCCCVCV · "inspire" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "inscrire" and "inspire" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "inscrire" or "inspire"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "inscrire" and "inspire" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "inscrire" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "inspire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #417,633 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "inscrire" and "inspire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "inspire vs Issoire". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #417,633 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.