détectéevsdétecterTell them apart

Which to use

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

#26,342
“détectée” frequency rank
#8,698
“détecter” frequency rank
35040
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature détectée détecter
Definition Participe passé féminin singulier de détecter. Se rendre compte de ; déceler ; trouver, en parlant de quelque chose qui n'était pas évident.

Same sound, different letters: détectée vs détecter

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. détectée (CVCVCCVV) and détecter (CVCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
détectée
8 ch
détecter

Same sound, different spelling - détectée / détecter

This is the hard kind. détectée and détecter are pronounced identically (\de.tɛk.te\) 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 35040, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

détectée is recorded at frequency rank #26,342, classified as averb, pronounced \de.tɛk.te\. détecter is at rank #8,698, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.tɛk.te\.

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 35040, this pair ranks #279,599 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of détectée vs détecter

Shared letters: cdeté. Private to "détectée": -. Private to "détecter": r.

"détectée" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV  ·  "détecter" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "détectée" and "détecter" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\de.tɛk.te\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Frequency check: "détectée" vs "détecter" - which ranks higher?
"détecter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,698 in our French list, against #26,342 for "détectée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

You've separated the homophone pair "détectée" / "détecter". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.

  • Full dictionary entry for "détectée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "détecter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #279,599 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "détectée" and "détecter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "détectée vs détestée". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #279,599 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