Which to use
“collées” is a verb and “collègues” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,176
- “collées” frequency rank
- #2,611
- “collègues” frequency rank
- 35787
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | collées | collègues |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participe passé féminin pluriel de coller. | Pluriel de collègue. |
Where the eye mixes collées and collègues
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. collées runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against collègues's 9 (CVCCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses collées with collègues
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: collées is \kɔ.le\ while collègues is \kɔ.lɛɡ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35787, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
collées is recorded at frequency rank #33,176, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ.le\. collègues is at rank #2,611, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.lɛɡ\.
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 35787, this pair ranks #274,242 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of collées vs collègues
Shared letters: celos. Private to "collées": é. Private to "collègues": guè.
"collées" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "collègues" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "collées" and "collègues" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "collées" vs "collègues" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "collées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "collègues" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #274,242 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "collées" and "collègues" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "collées vs collez". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #274,242 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.