Which to use
“compense” and “compensés” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,574
- “compense” frequency rank
- #39,227
- “compensés” frequency rank
- 60801
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | compense | compensés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de compenser. | Participe passé masculin pluriel de compenser. |
Where the eye mixes compense and compensés
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between compense and compensés
A purely visual mix-up. compense (\kɔ̃.pɑ̃s\) and compensés (\kɔ̃.pɑ̃.se\) 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 60801, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
compense is recorded at frequency rank #21,574, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.pɑ̃s\. compensés is at rank #39,227, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.pɑ̃.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 60801, this pair ranks #95,695 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of compense vs compensés
Shared letters: cemnops. Private to "compense": -. Private to "compensés": é.
"compense" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV · "compensés" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- compense ← ccompense · cmopense · comepnse · commpense · compenes · compennse · compensse · compesne
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "compense" for "compensés" ever safe?
Frequency check: "compense" vs "compensés" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "compense" and "compensés" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "compense" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "compensés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #95,695 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "compense" and "compensés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "companies vs compensés". 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 #95,695 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.