Which to use
“instants” and “intacts” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,401
- “instants” frequency rank
- #29,824
- “intacts” frequency rank
- 36225
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | instants | intacts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de instant. | Masculin pluriel de intact. |
Where the eye mixes instants and intacts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. instants runs 8 letters (VCCCVCCC) against intacts's 7 (VCCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between instants and intacts
A purely visual mix-up. instants (\ɛ̃s.tɑ̃\) and intacts (\ɛ̃.takt\) 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 36225, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
instants is recorded at frequency rank #6,401, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃s.tɑ̃\. intacts is at rank #29,824, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.takt\.
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 36225, this pair ranks #271,104 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of instants vs intacts
Shared letters: ainst. Private to "instants": -. Private to "intacts": c.
"instants" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCCC · "intacts" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "instants" for "intacts" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "instants" or "intacts" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "instants" and "intacts" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "instants" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "intacts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #271,104 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "instants" and "intacts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "intacts vs intrants". 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 #271,104 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.