supérieurvssupérieureWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,349
“supérieur” frequency rank
#1,788
“supérieure” frequency rank
3137
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature supérieur supérieure
Definition Qui est situé au-dessus. Celle qui est située au-dessus.

Where the spellings diverge

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

9 ch
supérieur
10 ch
supérieure

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: supérieur and supérieure carry the same recorded pronunciation, \sy.pe.ʁjœʁ\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “supérieur” sits inside “supérieure”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3137, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

supérieur is recorded at frequency rank #1,349, classified as anadj, pronounced \sy.pe.ʁjœʁ\. supérieure is at rank #1,788, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sy.pe.ʁjœʁ\.

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 3137, this pair ranks #434,710 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of supérieur vs supérieure

Shared letters: eiprsué. Private to "supérieur": -. Private to "supérieure": -.

"supérieur" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVVVC  ·  "supérieure" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVVVCV

Frequency comparison

supérieur#1,349
supérieure#1,788

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "supérieur" and "supérieure" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "supérieur" is an adjective and "supérieure" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "supérieur" or "supérieure"?
"supérieur" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,349 in our French list, against #1,788 for "supérieure". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering supérieur vs supérieure

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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