distribuéesvsdistribuerConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#20,697
“distribuées” frequency rank
#8,378
“distribuer” frequency rank
29075
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature distribuées distribuer
Definition Féminin pluriel de distribué. Répartir une chose entre plusieurs personnes ou plusieurs endroits.

Same sound, different letters: distribuées vs distribuer

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 9 letters. distribuées runs 11 letters (CVCCCVCVVVC) against distribuer's 10 (CVCCCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
distribuées
10 ch
distribuer

Ear matches; page differs - distribuées and distribuer

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: distribuées and distribuer carry the same recorded pronunciation, \dis.tʁi.bɥe\. 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 29075, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

distribuées is recorded at frequency rank #20,697, classified as anadj, pronounced \dis.tʁi.bɥe\. distribuer is at rank #8,378, tagged as averb, pronounced \dis.tʁi.bɥe\.

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 29075, this pair ranks #318,899 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of distribuées vs distribuer

Shared letters: bdeirstu. Private to "distribuées": é. Private to "distribuer": -.

"distribuées" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCVVVC  ·  "distribuer" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • distribuer ← ddistribuer · disrtibuer · disstribuer · distirbuer · distrbiuer · distribbuer · distribeur · distribuerr

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "distribuées" for "distribuer" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "distribuées" is an adjective and "distribuer" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "distribuées" or "distribuer" show up more?
"distribuer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,378 in our French list, against #20,697 for "distribuées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.

  • Full dictionary entry for "distribuées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "distribuer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #318,899 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "distribuées" and "distribuer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "distribuées vs distribuent". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #318,899 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