insèrevsinsérerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“insère” and “insérer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#22,903
“insère” frequency rank
#11,427
“insérer” frequency rank
34330
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature insère insérer
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de insérer. Introduire une chose dans une autre de façon qu’elle forme un tout avec elle.

Where the eye mixes insère and insérer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. insère runs 6 letters (VCCVCV) against insérer's 7 (VCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
insère
7 ch
insérer

Look-alike desk: insère vs insérer

A purely visual mix-up. insère (\ɛ̃.sɛʁ\) and insérer (\ɛ̃.se.ʁe\) 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 34330, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

insère is recorded at frequency rank #22,903, classified as averb, pronounced \ɛ̃.sɛʁ\. insérer is at rank #11,427, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛ̃.se.ʁe\.

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 34330, this pair ranks #284,588 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of insère vs insérer

Shared letters: einrs. Private to "insère": è. Private to "insérer": é.

"insère" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "insérer" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "insère" for "insérer" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\ɛ̃.sɛʁ\ versus \ɛ̃.se.ʁe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "insère" or "insérer" show up more?
"insérer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,427 in our French list, against #22,903 for "insère". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "insère" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "insérer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #284,588 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "insère" and "insérer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "insère vs instru". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #284,588 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