détachéesvsdétacherTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#16,862
“détachées” frequency rank
#13,369
“détacher” frequency rank
30231
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature détachées détacher
Definition Féminin pluriel de détaché. Débarrasser d’une tache, de taches.

Same sound, different letters: détachées vs détacher

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. détachées runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVVC) against détacher's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
détachées
8 ch
détacher

Same sound, different spelling - détachées / détacher

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: détachées and détacher carry the same recorded pronunciation, \de.ta.ʃe\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30231, 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\. détacher is at rank #13,369, tagged as averb, 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 30231, this pair ranks #311,702 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of détachées vs détacher

Shared letters: acdehté. Private to "détachées": s. Private to "détacher": r.

"détachées" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC  ·  "détacher" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "détachées" for "détacher" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "détachées" is an adjective and "détacher" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "détachées" or "détacher" show up more?
"détacher" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,369 in our French list, against #16,862 for "détachées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

"détachées" and "détacher" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.

  • Full dictionary entry for "détachées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "détacher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #311,702 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "détachées" and "détacher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décocher vs détacher". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #311,702 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