contractéevscontractéesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#24,164
“contractée” frequency rank
#47,250
“contractées” frequency rank
71414
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contractée contractées
Definition Féminin singulier de contracté. Féminin pluriel de contracté.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set contractée and contractées apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
contractée
11 ch
contractées

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. contractée and contractées are pronounced identically (\kɔ̃.tʁak.te\) and both work as anadjective. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “contractée” sits inside “contractées”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71414, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contractée is recorded at frequency rank #24,164, classified as anadj, pronounced \kɔ̃.tʁak.te\. contractées is at rank #47,250, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kɔ̃.tʁak.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 71414, this pair ranks #47,631 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of contractée vs contractées

Shared letters: acenorté. Private to "contractée": -. Private to "contractées": s.

"contractée" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVV  ·  "contractées" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVVC

Frequency comparison

contractée#24,164
contractées#47,250

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "contractée" and "contractées" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\kɔ̃.tʁak.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, "contractée" or "contractées"?
"contractée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,164 in our French list, against #47,250 for "contractées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering contractée vs contractées

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 “contractée” 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