intérêtvsinternerWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: intérêt is a noun, interner is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“intérêt” is a noun and “interner” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#616
“intérêt” frequency rank
#42,954
“interner” frequency rank
43570
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature intérêt interner
Definition Ce qui importe, ce qui convient, en quelque manière que ce soit, à l’utilité, à l’avantage d’une personne ou d’une collectivité, d’un individu ou d’une personne morale, en ce qui concerne soit leur bien physique et matériel, soit leur bien intellectuel et moral, soit leur considération et leur honneur. Obliger à résider dans une certaine localité, sans permission d’en sortir.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set intérêt and interner apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
intérêt
8 ch
interner

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: intérêt is \ɛ̃.te.ʁɛ\ while interner is \ɛ̃.tɛʁ.ne\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43570, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

intérêt is recorded at frequency rank #616, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃.te.ʁɛ\. interner is at rank #42,954, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛ̃.tɛʁ.ne\.

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 43570, this pair ranks #217,060 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of intérêt vs interner

Shared letters: inrt. Private to "intérêt": éê. Private to "interner": e.

"intérêt" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "interner" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • internerinetrner · innterner · intenrer · interenr · internerr · internner · internre · interrner

Frequency comparison

intérêt#616
interner#42,954

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "intérêt" and "interner" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "intérêt" is a noun and "interner" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "intérêt" or "interner"?
"intérêt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #616 in our French list, against #42,954 for "interner". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering intérêt vs interner

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “intérêt”; for a verb, it's “interner”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “intérêt” 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