détachevsdétachéeWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#14,665
“détache” frequency rank
#19,270
“détachée” frequency rank
33935
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature détache détachée
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de détacher. Femme exerçant une fonction de détaché.

Where the eye mixes détache and détachée

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. détache runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against détachée's 8 (CVCVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
détache
8 ch
détachée

Look-alike desk: détache vs détachée

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: détache is \de.taʃ\ while détachée is \de.ta.ʃe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33935, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

détache is recorded at frequency rank #14,665, classified as averb, pronounced \de.taʃ\. détachée is at rank #19,270, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.ta.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 33935, this pair ranks #287,276 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of détache vs détachée

Shared letters: acdehté. Private to "détache": -. Private to "détachée": -.

"détache" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "détachée" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "détache" and "détachée" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "détache" is a verb and "détachée" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "détache" or "détachée" show up more?
"détache" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,665 in our French list, against #19,270 for "détachée". 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 "détache" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "détachée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #287,276 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "détache" and "détachée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dèche vs détache". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #287,276 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