Which to use
“instruction” is a noun and “instructive” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,765
- “instruction” frequency rank
- #40,817
- “instructive” frequency rank
- 44582
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | instruction | instructive |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Action d’instruire quelqu’un sur les préceptes, les principes nécessaires à son éducation. | Féminin singulier de instructif. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set instruction and instructive apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
instruction and instructive form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44582, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
instruction is recorded at frequency rank #3,765, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃s.tʁyk.sjɔ̃\. instructive is at rank #40,817, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃s.tʁyk.tiv\.
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 44582, this pair ranks #209,387 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "instruction" and "instructive" be used interchangeably?
Remembering instruction vs instructive
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “instruction”; for an adjective, it's “instructive”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “instruction” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable