convaincrevsconvaincueWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: convaincre is a verb, convaincue is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“convaincre” is a verb and “convaincue” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,566
“convaincre” frequency rank
#12,136
“convaincue” frequency rank
14702
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature convaincre convaincue
Definition Amener quelqu’un par le raisonnement ou par des preuves à demeurer d’accord d’une vérité, d’un fait ; faire entrer fortement une opinion dans l’esprit de quelqu’un. Féminin singulier de convaincu.

Where the eye mixes convaincre and convaincue

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. convaincre (CVCCVVCCCV) and convaincue (CVCCVVCCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

10 ch
convaincre
10 ch
convaincue

Why the eye confuses convaincre with convaincue

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: convaincre is \kɔ̃.vɛ̃kʁ\ while convaincue is \kɔ̃.vɛ̃.ky\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - r in “convaincre” becomes u in “convaincue”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14702, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

convaincre is recorded at frequency rank #2,566, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.vɛ̃kʁ\. convaincue is at rank #12,136, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kɔ̃.vɛ̃.ky\.

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 14702, this pair ranks #395,554 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of convaincre vs convaincue

Shared letters: aceinov. Private to "convaincre": r. Private to "convaincue": u.

"convaincre" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCCCV  ·  "convaincue" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • convaincre ← cconvaincre · cnovaincre · conavincre · connvaincre · convaicnre · convainccre · convaincer · convaincrre
  • convaincue ← cconvaincue · cnovaincue · conavincue · connvaincue · convaicnue · convainccue · convainceu · convainncue

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "convaincre" for "convaincue" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "convaincre" is a verb and "convaincue" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "convaincre" or "convaincue"?
"convaincre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,566 in our French list, against #12,136 for "convaincue". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "convaincre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "convaincue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #395,554 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "convaincre" and "convaincue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "convaincra vs convaincue". 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 #395,554 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list