intensesvsintenterWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: intenses is a adjective, intenter is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“intenses” is an adjective and “intenter” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,603
“intenses” frequency rank
#36,005
“intenter” frequency rank
47608
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature intenses intenter
Definition Pluriel de intense. Diriger contre quelqu’un un procès, une accusation. Il n’est usité que dans ces phrases,

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set intenses and intenter apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
intenses
8 ch
intenter

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: intenses is \ɛ̃.tɑ̃s\ while intenter is \ɛ̃.tɑ̃.te\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47608, 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\. intenter is at rank #36,005, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛ̃.tɑ̃.te\.

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 47608, this pair ranks #185,603 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of intenses vs intenter

Shared letters: eint. Private to "intenses": s. Private to "intenter": r.

"intenses" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "intenter" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • intensesinetnses · inntenses · inteness · intennses · intensess · intensses · intesnes · intneses
  • intenterinetnter · inntenter · intenetr · intennter · intenterr · intentre · intentter · intetner

Frequency comparison

intenses#11,603
intenter#36,005

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "intenses" and "intenter" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "intenses" is an adjective and "intenter" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "intenses" or "intenter"?
"intenses" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,603 in our French list, against #36,005 for "intenter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering intenses vs intenter

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “intenses”; for a verb, it's “intenter”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “intenses” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list