détectésvsdétecteurWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#31,468
“détectés” frequency rank
#11,957
“détecteur” frequency rank
43425
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature détectés détecteur
Definition Participe passé masculin pluriel de détecter. Dispositif destiné à détecter quelque chose de difficilement perceptible ou caché ; capteur.

Where the eye mixes détectés and détecteur

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. détectés runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against détecteur's 9 (CVCVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
détectés
9 ch
détecteur

Look-alike desk: détectés vs détecteur

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: détectés is \de.tɛk.te\ while détecteur is \de.tɛk.tœʁ\. 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 43425, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

détectés is recorded at frequency rank #31,468, classified as averb, pronounced \de.tɛk.te\. détecteur is at rank #11,957, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.tɛk.tœʁ\.

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 43425, this pair ranks #218,156 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of détectés vs détecteur

Shared letters: cdeté. Private to "détectés": s. Private to "détecteur": ru.

"détectés" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "détecteur" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "détectés" and "détecteur" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "détectés" is a verb and "détecteur" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "détectés" vs "détecteur" - which ranks higher?
"détecteur" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,957 in our French list, against #31,468 for "détectés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "détectés" and "détecteur" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "détectés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "détecteur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #218,156 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "détectés" and "détecteur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "détectés vs détestée". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #218,156 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