Which to use
“cherché” is a verb and “cherchée” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,666
- “cherché” frequency rank
- #32,338
- “cherchée” frequency rank
- 36004
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cherché | cherchée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participe passé masculin singulier du verbe chercher. | Quantité à découvrir. |
Same sound, different letters: cherché vs cherchée
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. cherché runs 7 letters (CCVCCCV) against cherchée's 8 (CCVCCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: cherché vs cherchée
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: cherché and cherchée carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ʃɛʁ.ʃe\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “cherché” sits inside “cherchée”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36004, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cherché is recorded at frequency rank #3,666, classified as averb, pronounced \ʃɛʁ.ʃe\. cherchée is at rank #32,338, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃɛʁ.ʃe\.
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 36004, this pair ranks #272,681 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cherché vs cherchée
Shared letters: cehré. Private to "cherché": -. Private to "cherchée": -.
"cherché" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCCV · "cherchée" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cherché" and "cherchée" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "cherché" or "cherchée"?
Useful next steps
You've separated the homophone pair "cherché" / "cherchée". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "cherché" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cherchée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #272,681 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cherché" and "cherchée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cherchée vs cherchiez". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #272,681 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.