commencéesvscommencentWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#47,799
“commencées” frequency rank
#3,128
“commencent” frequency rank
50927
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature commencées commencent
Definition Participe passé féminin pluriel de commencer. Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de commencer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set commencées and commencent apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
commencées
10 ch
commencent

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. commencées (\kɔ.mɑ̃.se\) and commencent (\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 share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50927, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

commencées is recorded at frequency rank #47,799, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ.mɑ̃.se\. commencent is at rank #3,128, 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 50927, this pair ranks #158,862 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of commencées vs commencent

Shared letters: cemno. Private to "commencées": . Private to "commencent": t.

"commencées" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVC  ·  "commencent" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • commencentccommencent · cmomencent · comemncent · comencent · commecnent · commenccent · commencennt · commencentt

Frequency comparison

commencées#47,799
commencent#3,128

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "commencées" and "commencent" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kɔ.mɑ̃.se\ versus \kɔ.mɑ̃s\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "commencées" or "commencent"?
"commencent" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,128 in our French list, against #47,799 for "commencées". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering commencées vs commencent

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 “commencées” 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