intermédiaire vs intermédiaires, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#3,406
“intermédiaire” frequency rank: #7,718
“intermédiaires” frequency rank: 11124
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	intermédiaire	intermédiaires
Definition	Qui est entre deux, en parlant des choses.	Pluriel de intermédiaire.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set intermédiaire and intermédiaires apart are highlighted. They share 13 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

13 ch

intermédiaire

14 ch

intermédiaires

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. intermédiaire and intermédiaires are pronounced identically (\ɛ̃.tɛʁ.me.djɛʁ\) and both work as anadjective. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “intermédiaire” sits inside “intermédiaires”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11124, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

intermédiaire is recorded at frequency rank #3,406, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.tɛʁ.me.djɛʁ\. intermédiaires is at rank #7,718, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.tɛʁ.me.djɛʁ\.

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 11124, this pair ranks #410,387 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of intermédiaire vs intermédiaires

Shared letters: adeimnrté. Private to "intermédiaire": -. Private to "intermédiaires": s.

"intermédiaire" · 13 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVVVCV · "intermédiaires" · 14 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVVVCVC

Frequency comparison

intermédiaire#3,406

intermédiaires#7,718

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "intermédiaire" and "intermédiaires" be used interchangeably?

No. They are pronounced the same (\ɛ̃.tɛʁ.me.djɛʁ\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.

Which is more common, "intermédiaire" or "intermédiaires"?

"intermédiaire" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,406 in our French list, against #7,718 for "intermédiaires". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering intermédiaire vs intermédiaires

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “intermédiaire” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable