détachéevsdétachéesWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: détachée is a noun, détachées is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#19,270
“détachée” frequency rank
#16,862
“détachées” frequency rank
36132
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature détachée détachées
Definition Femme exerçant une fonction de détaché. Féminin pluriel de détaché.

Same sound, different letters: détachée vs détachées

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 8 letters. détachée runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVV) against détachées's 9 (CVCVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
détachée
9 ch
détachées

Ear matches; page differs - détachée and détachées

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: détachée and détachées carry the same recorded pronunciation, \de.ta.ʃe\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “détachée” sits inside “détachées”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36132, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

détachée is recorded at frequency rank #19,270, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.ta.ʃe\. détachées is at rank #16,862, tagged as anadj, 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 36132, this pair ranks #271,787 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of détachée vs détachées

Shared letters: acdehté. Private to "détachée": -. Private to "détachées": s.

"détachée" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV  ·  "détachées" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "détachée" and "détachées" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "détachée" is a noun and "détachées" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "détachée" or "détachées"?
"détachées" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,862 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.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "détachée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "détachées" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #271,787 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "détachée" and "détachées" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "détachées vs détectées". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #271,787 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