contrôléesvscontrôlentWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#18,447
“contrôlées” frequency rank
#14,233
“contrôlent” frequency rank
32680
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature contrôlées contrôlent
Definition Participe passé féminin pluriel de contrôler. Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de contrôler.

Where the spellings diverge

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

10 ch
contrôlées
10 ch
contrôlent

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. contrôlées (\kɔ̃.tʁo.le\) and contrôlent (\kɔ̃.tʁol\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32680, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

contrôlées is recorded at frequency rank #18,447, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.tʁo.le\. contrôlent is at rank #14,233, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.tʁol\.

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 32680, this pair ranks #295,660 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of contrôlées vs contrôlent

Shared letters: celnortô. Private to "contrôlées": . Private to "contrôlent": -.

"contrôlées" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCVVC  ·  "contrôlent" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCC

Frequency comparison

contrôlées#18,447
contrôlent#14,233

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "contrôlées" and "contrôlent" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kɔ̃.tʁo.le\ versus \kɔ̃.tʁol\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "contrôlées" or "contrôlent"?
"contrôlent" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,233 in our French list, against #18,447 for "contrôlées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering contrôlées vs contrôlent

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 “contrôlées” 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