diminuervsdiminuésWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: diminuer is a verb, diminués is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#4,225
“diminuer” frequency rank
#47,830
“diminués” frequency rank
52055
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature diminuer diminués
Definition Réduire quelque chose en retranchant une partie. Masculin pluriel de diminué.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set diminuer and diminués apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
diminuer
8 ch
diminués

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: diminuer and diminués carry the same recorded pronunciation, \di.mi.nɥe\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52055, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

diminuer is recorded at frequency rank #4,225, classified as averb, pronounced \di.mi.nɥe\. diminués is at rank #47,830, tagged as anadj, pronounced \di.mi.nɥe\.

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 52055, this pair ranks #150,501 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of diminuer vs diminués

Shared letters: dimnu. Private to "diminuer": er. Private to "diminués": .

"diminuer" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC  ·  "diminués" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • diminuerddiminuer · diimnuer · dimineur · diminnuer · diminuerr · diminure · dimiuner · dimminuer

Frequency comparison

diminuer#4,225
diminués#47,830

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "diminuer" and "diminués" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "diminuer" is a verb and "diminués" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "diminuer" or "diminués"?
"diminuer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,225 in our French list, against #47,830 for "diminués". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering diminuer vs diminués

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “diminuer”; for an adjective, it's “diminués”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “diminuer” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list