Which to use
“condamnée” is a noun and “contaminée” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,364
- “condamnée” frequency rank
- #28,499
- “contaminée” frequency rank
- 36863
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | condamnée | contaminée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Celle contre qui une peine afflictive ou infamante a été prononcée. | Participe passé féminin singulier de contaminer. |
Where the eye mixes condamnée and contaminée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. condamnée runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVV) against contaminée's 10 (CVCCVCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses condamnée with contaminée
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: condamnée is \kɔ̃.da.ne\ while contaminée is \kɔ̃.ta.mi.ne\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36863, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
condamnée is recorded at frequency rank #8,364, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.da.ne\. contaminée is at rank #28,499, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.ta.mi.ne\.
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 36863, this pair ranks #266,613 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of condamnée vs contaminée
Shared letters: acemnoé. Private to "condamnée": d. Private to "contaminée": it.
"condamnée" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVV · "contaminée" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "condamnée" and "contaminée" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "condamnée" vs "contaminée" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "condamnée" and "contaminée" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "condamnée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contaminée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #266,613 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "condamnée" and "contaminée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contamine vs contaminée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #266,613 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.