Which to use
“intellectuelle” is a noun and “intellectuels” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,497
- “intellectuelle” frequency rank
- #7,198
- “intellectuels” frequency rank
- 11695
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | intellectuelle | intellectuels |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Masculin pluriel de intellectuel. |
Same sound, different letters: intellectuelle vs intellectuels
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 12 letters.
Homophone desk: intellectuelle vs intellectuels
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: intellectuelle and intellectuels 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11695, 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\. intellectuels is at rank #7,198, 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 11695, this pair ranks #408,193 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of intellectuelle vs intellectuels
Shared letters: ceilntu. Private to "intellectuelle": -. Private to "intellectuels": s.
"intellectuelle" · 14 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCVVCCV · "intellectuels" · 13 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- intellectuelle ← inetllectuelle · inntellectuelle · intelectuelle · intelelctuelle · intellcetuelle · intellecctuelle · intellecteulle · intellecttuelle
- intellectuels ← inetllectuels · inntellectuels · intelectuels · intelelctuels · intellcetuels · intellecctuels · intellecteuls · intellecttuels
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "intellectuelle" for "intellectuels" ever safe?
Frequency check: "intellectuelle" vs "intellectuels" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
"intellectuelle" and "intellectuels" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "intellectuelle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "intellectuels" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #408,193 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "intellectuelle" and "intellectuels" 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 #408,193 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.