insèrevsinterWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: insère is a verb, inter is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“insère” is a verb and “inter” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,903
“insère” frequency rank
#3,928
“inter” frequency rank
26831
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature insère inter
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de insérer. Utilisé autrefois pour désigner le réseau téléphonique interurbain.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set insère and inter apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
insère
5 ch
inter

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: insère is \ɛ̃.sɛʁ\ while inter is \ɛ̃.tɛʁ\. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26831, 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\. inter is at rank #3,928, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃.tɛʁ\.

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 26831, this pair ranks #332,597 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of insère vs inter

Shared letters: einr. Private to "insère": . Private to "inter": t.

"insère" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "inter" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • interinetr · innter · interr · intre · intter · itner · niter

Frequency comparison

insère#22,903
inter#3,928

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "insère" and "inter" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "insère" is a verb and "inter" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "insère" or "inter"?
"inter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,928 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.

Remembering insère vs inter

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “insère”; for a noun, it's “inter”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “insère” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list