commencéesvscommencerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#47,799
“commencées” frequency rank
#976
“commencer” frequency rank
48775
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature commencées commencer
Definition Participe passé féminin pluriel de commencer. Engager une action, entreprendre une tâche, donner à une chose un commencement d’existence.

Where the spellings diverge

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

10 ch
commencées
9 ch
commencer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. commencées and commencer 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 48775, 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\. 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 48775, this pair ranks #176,126 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of commencées vs commencer

Shared letters: cemno. Private to "commencées": . Private to "commencer": r.

"commencées" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVC  ·  "commencer" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • commencerccommencer · cmomencer · comemncer · comencer · commecner · commenccer · commencerr · commencre

Frequency comparison

commencées#47,799
commencer#976

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "commencées" and "commencer" 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, "commencées" or "commencer"?
"commencer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #976 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 commencer

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