intolérancevsintolérantWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: intolérance is a noun, intolérant is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“intolérance” is a noun and “intolérant” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,710
“intolérance” frequency rank
#44,519
“intolérant” frequency rank
59229
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature intolérance intolérant
Definition Défaut de tolérance, disposition à violenter, à persécuter ceux avec lesquels on diffère d’opinions ou de culture. Qui manque de tolérance, qui ne veut souffrir aucune autre opinion que la sienne.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set intolérance and intolérant apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

11 ch
intolérance
10 ch
intolérant

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: intolérance is \ɛ̃.tɔ.le.ʁɑ̃s\ while intolérant is \ɛ̃.tɔ.le.ʁɑ̃\. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59229, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

intolérance is recorded at frequency rank #14,710, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃.tɔ.le.ʁɑ̃s\. intolérant is at rank #44,519, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.tɔ.le.ʁɑ̃\.

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 59229, this pair ranks #104,332 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of intolérance vs intolérant

Shared letters: ailnorté. Private to "intolérance": ce. Private to "intolérant": -.

"intolérance" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCVCVCCV  ·  "intolérant" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCVCC

Frequency comparison

intolérance#14,710
intolérant#44,519

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "intolérance" and "intolérant" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "intolérance" is a noun and "intolérant" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "intolérance" or "intolérant"?
"intolérance" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,710 in our French list, against #44,519 for "intolérant". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering intolérance vs intolérant

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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