Which to use
“commença” and “commencer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,945
- “commença” frequency rank
- #976
- “commencer” frequency rank
- 8921
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | commença | commencer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de commencer. | Engager une action, entreprendre une tâche, donner à une chose un commencement d’existence. |
Where the eye mixes commença and commencer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: commença vs commencer
A purely visual mix-up. commença (\kɔ.mɑ̃.sa\) and commencer (\kɔ.mɑ̃.se\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8921, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
commença is recorded at frequency rank #7,945, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ.mɑ̃.sa\. commencer is at rank #976, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ.mɑ̃.se\.
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 8921, this pair ranks #418,417 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of commença vs commencer
Shared letters: cemno. Private to "commença": aç. Private to "commencer": r.
"commença" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV · "commencer" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- commencer ← ccommencer · cmomencer · comemncer · comencer · commecner · commenccer · commencerr · commencre
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "commença" for "commencer" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "commença" or "commencer" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "commença" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "commencer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #418,417 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "commença" and "commencer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "commencées vs commencer". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #418,417 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.