Which to use
“brûlé” is an adjective and “brûler” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,533
- “brûlé” frequency rank
- #5,635
- “brûler” frequency rank
- 13168
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | brûlé | brûler |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui a été soumis à l’action du feu, a subi une brûlure. | Consumer, corroder ou endommager par le feu, ou par produits chimiques. |
Same sound, different letters: brûlé vs brûler
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters. brûlé runs 5 letters (CCVCV) against brûler's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: brûlé vs brûler
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: brûlé and brûler carry the same recorded pronunciation, \bʁy.le\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13168, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
brûlé is recorded at frequency rank #7,533, classified as anadj, pronounced \bʁy.le\. brûler is at rank #5,635, tagged as averb, pronounced \bʁy.le\.
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 13168, this pair ranks #402,145 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of brûlé vs brûler
Shared letters: blrû. Private to "brûlé": é. Private to "brûler": e.
"brûlé" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "brûler" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "brûlé" and "brûler" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "brûlé" or "brûler" show up more?
What to do next
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "brûlé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "brûler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #402,145 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "brûlé" and "brûler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "brider vs brûler". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #402,145 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.