balayéevsbalayerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“balayée” and “balayer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#45,461
“balayée” frequency rank
#16,304
“balayer” frequency rank
61765
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature balayée balayer
Definition Participe passé féminin singulier du verbe balayer. Nettoyer un lieu avec le balai.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set balayée and balayer apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
balayée
7 ch
balayer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. balayée and balayer are pronounced identically (\ba.lɛ.je\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61765, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

balayée is recorded at frequency rank #45,461, classified as averb, pronounced \ba.lɛ.je\. balayer is at rank #16,304, tagged as averb, pronounced \ba.lɛ.je\.

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 61765, this pair ranks #90,558 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of balayée vs balayer

Shared letters: abely. Private to "balayée": é. Private to "balayer": r.

"balayée" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVVV  ·  "balayer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • balayerablayer · baalyer · balaeyr · balayerr · balayre · balayyer · ballayer · balyaer

Frequency comparison

balayée#45,461
balayer#16,304

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "balayée" and "balayer" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\ba.lɛ.je\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "balayée" or "balayer"?
"balayer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,304 in our French list, against #45,461 for "balayée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering balayée vs balayer

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “balayée” 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