Which to use
“intensif” is an adjective and “intensifie” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,396
- “intensif” frequency rank
- #28,210
- “intensifie” frequency rank
- 44606
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | intensif | intensifie |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | À quoi on fait dépasser la mesure ordinaire. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif du verbe intensifier. |
Where the eye mixes intensif and intensifie
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. intensif runs 8 letters (VCCVCCVC) against intensifie's 10 (VCCVCCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between intensif and intensifie
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: intensif is \ɛ̃.tɑ̃.sif\ while intensifie is \ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “intensif” sits inside “intensifie”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44606, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
intensif is recorded at frequency rank #16,396, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.tɑ̃.sif\. intensifie is at rank #28,210, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛ̃.tɑ̃.si.fi\.
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 44606, this pair ranks #209,196 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of intensif vs intensifie
Shared letters: efinst. Private to "intensif": -. Private to "intensifie": -.
"intensif" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "intensifie" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- intensif ← inetnsif · inntensif · intenisf · intennsif · intensfi · intensiff · intenssif · intesnif
- intensifie ← inetnsifie · inntensifie · intenisfie · intennsifie · intensfiie · intensifei · intensiffie · intensiife
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "intensif" for "intensifie" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "intensif" or "intensifie" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "intensif" and "intensifie" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "intensif" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "intensifie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #209,196 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "intensif" and "intensifie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "intensifie vs intensifient". 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 #209,196 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.