dispensésvsdisperséesWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#23,173
“dispensés” frequency rank
#25,283
“dispersées” frequency rank
48456
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dispensés dispersées
Definition Participe passé masculin pluriel de dispenser. Féminin pluriel de dispersé.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dispensés and dispersées apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
dispensés
10 ch
dispersées

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dispensés is \dis.pɑ̃.se\ while dispersées is \dis.pɛʁ.se\. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48456, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dispensés is recorded at frequency rank #23,173, classified as averb, pronounced \dis.pɑ̃.se\. dispersées is at rank #25,283, tagged as anadj, pronounced \dis.pɛʁ.se\.

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 48456, this pair ranks #178,780 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dispensés vs dispersées

Shared letters: deipsé. Private to "dispensés": n. Private to "dispersées": r.

"dispensés" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "dispersées" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVC

Frequency comparison

dispensés#23,173
dispersées#25,283

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dispensés" and "dispersées" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dispensés" is a verb and "dispersées" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dispensés" or "dispersées"?
"dispensés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,173 in our French list, against #25,283 for "dispersées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dispensés vs dispersées

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “dispensés”; for an adjective, it's “dispersées”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dispensés” 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