commencezvscommercerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,360
“commencez” frequency rank
#38,210
“commercer” frequency rank
46570
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature commencez commercer
Definition Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de commencer. Faire du commerce.

Where the spellings diverge

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

9 ch
commencez
9 ch
commercer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. commencez (\kɔ.mɑ̃.se\) and commercer (\kɔ.mɛʁ.se\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46570, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

commencez is recorded at frequency rank #8,360, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ.mɑ̃.se\. commercer is at rank #38,210, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ.mɛʁ.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 46570, this pair ranks #193,866 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of commencez vs commercer

Shared letters: cemo. Private to "commencez": nz. Private to "commercer": r.

"commencez" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "commercer" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • commencezccommencez · cmomencez · comemncez · comencez · commecnez · commenccez · commencezz · commencze
  • commercerccommercer · cmomercer · comemrcer · comercer · commecrer · commerccer · commercerr · commercre

Frequency comparison

commencez#8,360
commercer#38,210

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "commencez" and "commercer" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kɔ.mɑ̃.se\ versus \kɔ.mɛʁ.se\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "commencez" or "commercer"?
"commencez" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,360 in our French list, against #38,210 for "commercer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering commencez vs commercer

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 “commencez” 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