intérêtsvsinternetsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,481
“intérêts” frequency rank
#36,447
“internets” frequency rank
37928
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature intérêts internets
Definition Pluriel de intérêt. Pluriel de internet

Where the eye mixes intérêts and internets

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. intérêts runs 8 letters (VCCVCVCC) against internets's 9 (VCCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
intérêts
9 ch
internets

Look-alike desk: intérêts vs internets

A purely visual mix-up. intérêts (\ɛ̃.te.ʁɛ\) and internets (\ɛ̃.tɛʁ.nɛt\) 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 37928, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

intérêts is recorded at frequency rank #1,481, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃.te.ʁɛ\. internets is at rank #36,447, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃.tɛʁ.nɛt\.

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 37928, this pair ranks #258,974 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of intérêts vs internets

Shared letters: inrst. Private to "intérêts": éê. Private to "internets": e.

"intérêts" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC  ·  "internets" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • internets ← inetrnets · innternets · intenrets · interents · internest · internetss · internetts · internnets

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "intérêts" for "internets" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\ɛ̃.te.ʁɛ\ versus \ɛ̃.tɛʁ.nɛt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "intérêts" vs "internets" - which ranks higher?
"intérêts" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,481 in our French list, against #36,447 for "internets". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "intérêts" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "internets" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #258,974 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "intérêts" and "internets" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "interner vs internets". 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 #258,974 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