déclenchevsdéclenchéesTell them apart

Quick tell: déclenche is a noun, déclenchées is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“déclenche” is a noun and “déclenchées” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,205
“déclenche” frequency rank
#49,611
“déclenchées” frequency rank
60816
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déclenche déclenchées
Definition Appareil qui sert à séparer deux pièces d’une machine. Participe passé féminin pluriel de déclencher.

Where the eye mixes déclenche and déclenchées

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. déclenche runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCCV) against déclenchées's 11 (CVCCVCCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
déclenche
11 ch
déclenchées

Look-alike desk: déclenche vs déclenchées

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: déclenche is \de.klɑ̃ʃ\ while déclenchées is \de.klɑ̃.ʃe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60816, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

déclenche is recorded at frequency rank #11,205, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.klɑ̃ʃ\. déclenchées is at rank #49,611, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.klɑ̃.ʃe\.

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 60816, this pair ranks #95,613 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of déclenche vs déclenchées

Shared letters: cdehlné. Private to "déclenche": -. Private to "déclenchées": s.

"déclenche" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCV  ·  "déclenchées" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "déclenche" and "déclenchées" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "déclenche" is a noun and "déclenchées" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "déclenche" or "déclenchées" show up more?
"déclenche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,205 in our French list, against #49,611 for "déclenchées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "déclenche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "déclenchées" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #95,613 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "déclenche" and "déclenchées" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déclenchées vs déclenchés". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #95,613 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