Which to use
“malades” is an adjective and “maladie” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,274
- “malades” frequency rank
- #1,117
- “maladie” frequency rank
- 4391
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | malades | maladie |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de l’adjectif malade. | Problème de santé chez un être vivant qui se traduit par une baisse des capacités physiques ou par un dysfonctionnement, une altération du métabolisme. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set malades and maladie apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: malades is \ma.lad\ while maladie is \ma.la.di\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4391, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
malades is recorded at frequency rank #3,274, classified as anadj, pronounced \ma.lad\. maladie is at rank #1,117, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ma.la.di\.
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 4391, this pair ranks #431,729 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of malades vs maladie
Shared letters: adelm. Private to "malades": s. Private to "maladie": i.
"malades" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "maladie" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "malades" and "maladie" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "malades" or "maladie"?
Remembering malades vs maladie
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “malades”; for a noun, it's “maladie”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “malades” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable