Which to use
“intellectuelle” is a noun and “intellectuelles” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,497
- “intellectuelle” frequency rank
- #14,708
- “intellectuelles” frequency rank
- 19205
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | intellectuelle | intellectuelles |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Femme dont l’activité repose sur l’exercice de l’esprit, qui s’engage dans la sphère publique pour faire part de ses analyses. | Féminin pluriel de intellectuel. |
Same sound, different letters: intellectuelle vs intellectuelles
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 14 letters.
Homophone desk: intellectuelle vs intellectuelles
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: intellectuelle and intellectuelles carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ɛ̃.te.lɛk.tɥɛl\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “intellectuelle” sits inside “intellectuelles”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19205, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
intellectuelle is recorded at frequency rank #4,497, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃.te.lɛk.tɥɛl\. intellectuelles is at rank #14,708, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.te.lɛk.tɥɛl\.
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 19205, this pair ranks #374,424 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of intellectuelle vs intellectuelles
Shared letters: ceilntu. Private to "intellectuelle": -. Private to "intellectuelles": s.
"intellectuelle" · 14 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCVVCCV · "intellectuelles" · 15 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- intellectuelle ← inetllectuelle · inntellectuelle · intelectuelle · intelelctuelle · intellcetuelle · intellecctuelle · intellecteulle · intellecttuelle
- intellectuelles ← inetllectuelles · inntellectuelles · intelectuelles · intelelctuelles · intellcetuelles · intellecctuelles · intellecteulles · intellecttuelles
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "intellectuelle" for "intellectuelles" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "intellectuelle" or "intellectuelles" show up more?
What to do next
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "intellectuelle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "intellectuelles" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #374,424 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "intellectuelle" and "intellectuelles" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "intellectuelles vs intellectuels". 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 #374,424 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.