Which to use
“commença” and “commences” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,945
- “commença” frequency rank
- #9,800
- “commences” frequency rank
- 17745
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | commença | commences |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de commencer. | Deuxième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de commencer. |
Where the eye mixes commença and commences
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between commença and commences
A purely visual mix-up. commença (\kɔ.mɑ̃.sa\) and commences (\kɔ.mɑ̃s\) 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 17745, 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\. commences is at rank #9,800, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ.mɑ̃s\.
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 17745, this pair ranks #381,678 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of commença vs commences
Shared letters: cemno. Private to "commença": aç. Private to "commences": s.
"commença" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV · "commences" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- commences ← ccommences · cmomences · comemnces · comences · commecnes · commencces · commencess · commencse
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "commença" and "commences" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "commença" vs "commences" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "commença" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "commences" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #381,678 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "commença" and "commences" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "commencées vs commences". 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 #381,678 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.