Which to use
“connais” and “connaisse” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #653
- “connais” frequency rank
- #9,975
- “connaisse” frequency rank
- 10628
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | connais | connaisse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent du verbe connaître. | Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de connaître (ou connaitre). |
Where the eye mixes connais and connaisse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. connais runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against connaisse's 9 (CVCCVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: connais vs connaisse
A purely visual mix-up. connais (\kɔ.nɛ\) and connaisse (\kɔ.nɛs\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “connais” sits inside “connaisse”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10628, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
connais is recorded at frequency rank #653, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ.nɛ\. connaisse is at rank #9,975, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ.nɛs\.
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 10628, this pair ranks #412,262 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of connais vs connaisse
Shared letters: acinos. Private to "connais": -. Private to "connaisse": e.
"connais" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "connaisse" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "connais" and "connaisse" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "connais" vs "connaisse" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "connais" and "connaisse" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "connais" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "connaisse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #412,262 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "connais" and "connaisse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "connaisse vs connaisses". 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 #412,262 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.