Which to use
“allégée” is an adjective and “alléger” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #37,166
- “allégée” frequency rank
- #17,865
- “alléger” frequency rank
- 55031
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | allégée | alléger |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de allégé. | Soulager d’une partie d’un fardeau. |
Where the eye mixes allégée and alléger
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. allégée (VCCVCVV) and alléger (VCCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses allégée with alléger
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: allégée is \a.le.ʒe\ while alléger is \a(l).le.ʒe\. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55031, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
allégée is recorded at frequency rank #37,166, classified as anadj, pronounced \a.le.ʒe\. alléger is at rank #17,865, tagged as averb, pronounced \a(l).le.ʒe\.
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 55031, this pair ranks #130,108 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of allégée vs alléger
Shared letters: aeglé. Private to "allégée": -. Private to "alléger": r.
"allégée" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVV · "alléger" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "allégée" for "alléger" ever safe?
Frequency check: "allégée" vs "alléger" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "allégée" and "alléger" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "allégée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "alléger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #130,108 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "allégée" and "alléger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "agrégée vs allégée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #130,108 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.