consultéevsconsulterWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#25,604
“consultée” frequency rank
#3,989
“consulter” frequency rank
29593
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature consultée consulter
Definition Participe passé féminin singulier de consulter. Prendre avis, conseil ou instruction de quelqu’un.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set consultée and consulter apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
consultée
9 ch
consulter

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. consultée and consulter are pronounced identically (\kɔ̃.syl.te\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29593, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

consultée is recorded at frequency rank #25,604, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.syl.te\. consulter is at rank #3,989, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.syl.te\.

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 29593, this pair ranks #315,692 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of consultée vs consulter

Shared letters: celnostu. Private to "consultée": é. Private to "consulter": r.

"consultée" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVV  ·  "consulter" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • consultercconsulter · cnosulter · connsulter · consluter · conssulter · consuletr · consullter · consulterr

Frequency comparison

consultée#25,604
consulter#3,989

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "consultée" and "consulter" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\kɔ̃.syl.te\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "consultée" or "consulter"?
"consulter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,989 in our French list, against #25,604 for "consultée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering consultée vs consulter

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 “consultée” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list