Which to use
“intenses” and “intensifs” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,603
- “intenses” frequency rank
- #19,876
- “intensifs” frequency rank
- 31479
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | intenses | intensifs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de intense. | Masculin pluriel de intensif. |
Where the eye mixes intenses and intensifs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. intenses runs 8 letters (VCCVCCVC) against intensifs's 9 (VCCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses intenses with intensifs
A purely visual mix-up. intenses (\ɛ̃.tɑ̃s\) and intensifs (\ɛ̃.tɑ̃.sif\) 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 31479, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
intenses is recorded at frequency rank #11,603, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.tɑ̃s\. intensifs is at rank #19,876, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.tɑ̃.sif\.
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 31479, this pair ranks #303,542 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of intenses vs intensifs
Shared letters: einst. Private to "intenses": -. Private to "intensifs": f.
"intenses" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "intensifs" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "intenses" and "intensifs" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "intenses" or "intensifs"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "intenses" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "intensifs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #303,542 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "intenses" and "intensifs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "intensifs vs intensives". 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 #303,542 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.