commencévscommencezWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“commencé” and “commencez” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#916
“commencé” frequency rank
#8,360
“commencez” frequency rank
9276
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature commencé commencez
Definition Participe passé masculin singulier de commencer. Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de commencer.

Where the spellings diverge

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

8 ch
commencé
9 ch
commencez

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. commencé and commencez are pronounced identically (\kɔ.mɑ̃.se\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9276, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

commencé is recorded at frequency rank #916, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ.mɑ̃.se\. commencez is at rank #8,360, 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 9276, this pair ranks #417,225 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of commencé vs commencez

Shared letters: cemno. Private to "commencé": é. Private to "commencez": z.

"commencé" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "commencez" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • commencezccommencez · cmomencez · comemncez · comencez · commecnez · commenccez · commencezz · commencze

Frequency comparison

commencé#916
commencez#8,360

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "commencé" and "commencez" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\kɔ.mɑ̃.se\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "commencé" or "commencez"?
"commencé" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #916 in our French list, against #8,360 for "commencez". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering commencé vs commencez

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “commencé” 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