déclenchéevsdéclencherWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#19,263
“déclenchée” frequency rank
#8,991
“déclencher” frequency rank
28254
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déclenchée déclencher
Definition Participe passé féminin singulier de déclencher. Manœuvrer la déclenche pour séparer dans une machine ou dans un ensemble mécanique deux pièces qui ordinairement sont liées.

Same sound, different letters: déclenchée vs déclencher

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 9 letters. déclenchée (CVCCVCCCVV) and déclencher (CVCCVCCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

10 ch
déclenchée
10 ch
déclencher

Ear matches; page differs - déclenchée and déclencher

This is the hard kind. déclenchée and déclencher are pronounced identically (\de.klɑ̃.ʃe\) 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 28254, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

déclenchée is recorded at frequency rank #19,263, classified as averb, pronounced \de.klɑ̃.ʃe\. déclencher is at rank #8,991, 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 28254, this pair ranks #323,951 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of déclenchée vs déclencher

Shared letters: cdehlné. Private to "déclenchée": -. Private to "déclencher": r.

"déclenchée" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVV  ·  "déclencher" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "déclenchée" and "déclencher" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are pronounced the same (\de.klɑ̃.ʃe\), 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, "déclenchée" or "déclencher"?
"déclencher" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,991 in our French list, against #19,263 for "déclenchée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.

  • Full dictionary entry for "déclenchée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "déclencher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #323,951 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "déclenchée" and "déclencher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déclenchée vs déclenchées". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #323,951 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