compenséesvscompensésConfusable pair

Quick tell: compensées is a adjective, compensés is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“compensées” is an adjective and “compensés” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,715
“compensées” frequency rank
#39,227
“compensés” frequency rank
77942
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature compensées compensés
Definition Féminin pluriel de compensé. Participe passé masculin pluriel de compenser.

Same sound, different letters: compensées vs compensés

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 9 letters. compensées runs 10 letters (CVCCVCCVVC) against compensés's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
compensées
9 ch
compensés

Same sound, different spelling - compensées / compensés

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: compensées and compensés carry the same recorded pronunciation, \kɔ̃.pɑ̃.se\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77942, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

compensées is recorded at frequency rank #38,715, classified as anadj, pronounced \kɔ̃.pɑ̃.se\. 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 77942, this pair ranks #27,031 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of compensées vs compensés

Shared letters: cemnopsé. Private to "compensées": -. Private to "compensés": -.

"compensées" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVC  ·  "compensés" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "compensées" and "compensés" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "compensées" is an adjective and "compensés" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "compensées" vs "compensés" - which ranks higher?
"compensées" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,715 in our French list, against #39,227 for "compensés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.

  • Full dictionary entry for "compensées" 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 #27,031 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "compensées" and "compensés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "commencées vs compensées". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #27,031 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list