détachéesvsdétachentWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: détachées is a adjective, détachent is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#16,862
“détachées” frequency rank
#32,389
“détachent” frequency rank
49251
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature détachées détachent
Definition Féminin pluriel de détaché. Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de détacher.

Where the eye mixes détachées and détachent

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. détachées (CVCVCCVVC) and détachent (CVCVCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
détachées
9 ch
détachent

Look-alike desk: détachées vs détachent

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: détachées is \de.ta.ʃe\ while détachent is \de.taʃ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49251, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

détachées is recorded at frequency rank #16,862, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.ta.ʃe\. détachent is at rank #32,389, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.taʃ\.

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 49251, this pair ranks #172,169 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of détachées vs détachent

Shared letters: acdehté. Private to "détachées": s. Private to "détachent": n.

"détachées" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC  ·  "détachent" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "détachées" and "détachent" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "détachées" is an adjective and "détachent" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "détachées" vs "détachent" - which ranks higher?
"détachées" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,862 in our French list, against #32,389 for "détachent". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "détachées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "détachent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #172,169 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "détachées" and "détachent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "détachent vs détectent". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #172,169 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