nécessitévsnécessiterWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: nécessité is a noun, nécessiter is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“nécessité” is a noun and “nécessiter” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,586
“nécessité” frequency rank
#25,417
“nécessiter” frequency rank
28003
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nécessité nécessiter
Definition Caractère de ce qui est absolument obligatoire, indispensable, de ce dont on ne peut se passer. Rendre une chose nécessaire.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set nécessité and nécessiter apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
nécessité
10 ch
nécessiter

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: nécessité and nécessiter carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ne.se.si.te\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28003, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nécessité is recorded at frequency rank #2,586, classified as anoun, pronounced \ne.se.si.te\. nécessiter is at rank #25,417, tagged as averb, pronounced \ne.se.si.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 28003, this pair ranks #325,480 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of nécessité vs nécessiter

Shared letters: ceinsté. Private to "nécessité": -. Private to "nécessiter": r.

"nécessité" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV  ·  "nécessiter" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC

Frequency comparison

nécessité#2,586
nécessiter#25,417

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nécessité" and "nécessiter" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nécessité" is a noun and "nécessiter" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "nécessité" or "nécessiter"?
"nécessité" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,586 in our French list, against #25,417 for "nécessiter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering nécessité vs nécessiter

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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