approuvéevsapprouverWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: approuvée is a adjective, approuver is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“approuvée” is an adjective and “approuver” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,730
“approuvée” frequency rank
#13,319
“approuver” frequency rank
27049
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature approuvée approuver
Definition Féminin singulier de approuvé. Tenir pour acceptable.

Where the spellings diverge

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

9 ch
approuvée
9 ch
approuver

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: approuvée and approuver carry the same recorded pronunciation, \a.pʁu.ve\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27049, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

approuvée is recorded at frequency rank #13,730, classified as anadj, pronounced \a.pʁu.ve\. approuver is at rank #13,319, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.pʁu.ve\.

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 27049, this pair ranks #331,365 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of approuvée vs approuver

Shared letters: aeopruv. Private to "approuvée": é. Private to "approuver": -.

"approuvée" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVVCVV  ·  "approuver" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • approuverapporuver · approuevr · approuverr · approuvre · approuvver · approvuer · apprrouver · appruover

Frequency comparison

approuvée#13,730
approuver#13,319

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "approuvée" and "approuver" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "approuvée" is an adjective and "approuver" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "approuvée" or "approuver"?
"approuver" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,319 in our French list, against #13,730 for "approuvée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering approuvée vs approuver

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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