caractériséevscaractériséesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,530
“caractérisée” frequency rank
#31,872
“caractérisées” frequency rank
45402
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caractérisée caractérisées
Definition Féminin singulier de caractérisé. Féminin pluriel de caractérisé.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set caractérisée and caractérisées apart are highlighted. They share 12 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

12 ch
caractérisée
13 ch
caractérisées

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. caractérisée and caractérisées are pronounced identically (\ka.ʁak.te.ʁi.ze\) and both work as anadjective. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “caractérisée” sits inside “caractérisées”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45402, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caractérisée is recorded at frequency rank #13,530, classified as anadj, pronounced \ka.ʁak.te.ʁi.ze\. caractérisées is at rank #31,872, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ka.ʁak.te.ʁi.ze\.

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 45402, this pair ranks #202,963 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of caractérisée vs caractérisées

Shared letters: aceirsté. Private to "caractérisée": -. Private to "caractérisées": -.

"caractérisée" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVCVV  ·  "caractérisées" · 13 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVCVVC

Frequency comparison

caractérisée#13,530
caractérisées#31,872

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "caractérisée" and "caractérisées" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\ka.ʁak.te.ʁi.ze\), 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, "caractérisée" or "caractérisées"?
"caractérisée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,530 in our French list, against #31,872 for "caractérisées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering caractérisée vs caractérisées

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 “caractérisée” 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