intéresservsintéressesConfusable pair

Which to use

“intéresser” and “intéresses” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,866
“intéresser” frequency rank
#31,093
“intéresses” frequency rank
35959
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature intéresser intéresses
Definition Mêler, concerner, faire intervenir. Deuxième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de intéresser.

Where the eye mixes intéresser and intéresses

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. intéresser and intéresses follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
intéresser
10 ch
intéresses

Visual trap between intéresser and intéresses

A purely visual mix-up. intéresser (\ɛ̃.te.ʁɛ.se\) and intéresses (\ɛ̃.te.ʁɛs\) 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 a single letter - r in “intéresser” becomes s in “intéresses”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35959, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

intéresser is recorded at frequency rank #4,866, classified as averb, pronounced \ɛ̃.te.ʁɛ.se\. intéresses is at rank #31,093, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛ̃.te.ʁɛs\.

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 35959, this pair ranks #272,974 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of intéresser vs intéresses

Shared letters: einrsté. Private to "intéresser": -. Private to "intéresses": -.

"intéresser" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCCVC  ·  "intéresses" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "intéresser" and "intéresses" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɛ̃.te.ʁɛ.se\ versus \ɛ̃.te.ʁɛs\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "intéresser" or "intéresses"?
"intéresser" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,866 in our French list, against #31,093 for "intéresses". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "intéresser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "intéresses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #272,974 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "intéresser" and "intéresses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "intéressa vs intéresses". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #272,974 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list