Which to use
“approchée” is an adjective and “approches” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #28,447
- “approchée” frequency rank
- #9,601
- “approches” frequency rank
- 38048
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | approchée | approches |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de approché. | Pluriel de approche. |
Where the eye mixes approchée and approches
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. approchée (VCCCVCCVV) and approches (VCCCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses approchée with approches
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: approchée is \a.pʁɔ.ʃe\ while approches is \a.pʁɔʃ\. 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 38048, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
approchée is recorded at frequency rank #28,447, classified as anadj, pronounced \a.pʁɔ.ʃe\. approches is at rank #9,601, tagged as anoun, pronounced \a.pʁɔʃ\.
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 38048, this pair ranks #258,035 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of approchée vs approches
Shared letters: acehopr. Private to "approchée": é. Private to "approches": s.
"approchée" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVV · "approches" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- approches ← apporches · apprcohes · approcches · approcehs · approchess · approchhes · approchse · approhces
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "approchée" for "approches" ever safe?
Which is more common, "approchée" or "approches"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "approchée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "approches" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #258,035 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "approchée" and "approches" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "approchée vs approchez". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #258,035 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.