cherchévscherchéeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: cherché is a verb, cherchée is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

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.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cherché and cherchée apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
cherché
8 ch
cherchée

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

Frequency comparison

cherché#3,666
cherchée#32,338

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cherché" and "cherchée" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cherché" is a verb and "cherchée" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cherché" or "cherchée"?
"cherché" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,666 in our French list, against #32,338 for "cherchée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cherché vs cherchée

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “cherché”; for a noun, it's “cherchée”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cherché” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list