Which to use
“approcher” is a verb and “approches” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,165
- “approcher” frequency rank
- #9,601
- “approches” frequency rank
- 15766
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | approcher | approches |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mettre proche, mettre près. | Pluriel de approche. |
Where the eye mixes approcher and approches
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. approcher and approches follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses approcher with approches
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: approcher is \a.pʁɔ.ʃe\ while approches is \a.pʁɔʃ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - r in “approcher” becomes s in “approches”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15766, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
approcher is recorded at frequency rank #6,165, classified as averb, 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 15766, this pair ranks #390,920 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of approcher vs approches
Shared letters: acehopr. Private to "approcher": -. Private to "approches": s.
"approcher" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC · "approches" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "approcher" and "approches" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "approcher" or "approches" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "approcher" 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 #390,920 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "approcher" and "approches" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "accroches vs approches". 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 #390,920 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.