mobilevsmobilitéWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: mobile is a adjective, mobilité is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#2,089
“mobile” frequency rank
#5,263
“mobilité” frequency rank
7352
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mobile mobilité
Definition Qui se meut ou qui peut être mû ; qui n’est pas fixe. Facilité à être mû.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mobile and mobilité apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
mobile
8 ch
mobilité

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mobile is \mɔ.bil\ while mobilité is \mɔ.bi.li.te\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7352, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mobile is recorded at frequency rank #2,089, classified as anadj, pronounced \mɔ.bil\. mobilité is at rank #5,263, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɔ.bi.li.te\.

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 7352, this pair ranks #423,414 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mobile vs mobilité

Shared letters: bilmo. Private to "mobile": e. Private to "mobilité": .

"mobile" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "mobilité" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mobilemboile · mmobile · mobbile · mobiel · mobille · moblie · moible · ombile

Frequency comparison

mobile#2,089
mobilité#5,263

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mobile" and "mobilité" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mobile" is an adjective and "mobilité" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mobile" or "mobilité"?
"mobile" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,089 in our French list, against #5,263 for "mobilité". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mobile vs mobilité

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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