maigrivsmalgréWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: maigri is a verb, malgré is a preposition, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“maigri” is a verb and “malgré” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#43,540
“maigri” frequency rank
#556
“malgré” frequency rank
44096
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maigri malgré
Definition Participe passé masculin singulier de maigrir. Contre le vouloir de quelqu’un, contre le gré de.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
maigri
6 ch
malgré

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

maigri and malgré form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44096, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

maigri is recorded at frequency rank #43,540, classified as averb, pronounced \me.ɡʁi\. malgré is at rank #556, tagged as aprep, pronounced \mal.ɡʁe\.

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 44096, this pair ranks #213,080 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

maigri#43,540
malgré#556

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maigri" and "malgré" be used interchangeably?
No, "maigri" and "malgré" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering maigri vs malgré

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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