effrayervseffrayésWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#18,186
“effrayer” frequency rank
#26,344
“effrayés” frequency rank
44530
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature effrayer effrayés
Definition Remplir de frayeur. Masculin pluriel de effrayé.

Where the spellings diverge

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

8 ch
effrayer
8 ch
effrayés

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: effrayer and effrayés carry the same recorded pronunciation, \e.fʁɛ.je\. 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 44530, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

effrayer is recorded at frequency rank #18,186, classified as averb, pronounced \e.fʁɛ.je\. effrayés is at rank #26,344, tagged as anadj, pronounced \e.fʁɛ.je\.

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 44530, this pair ranks #209,797 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of effrayer vs effrayés

Shared letters: aefry. Private to "effrayer": -. Private to "effrayés": .

"effrayer" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVVVC  ·  "effrayés" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • effrayereffaryer · effraeyr · effrayerr · effrayre · effrayyer · effrrayer · effryaer · efrayer

Frequency comparison

effrayer#18,186
effrayés#26,344

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "effrayer" and "effrayés" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "effrayer" is a verb and "effrayés" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "effrayer" or "effrayés"?
"effrayer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,186 in our French list, against #26,344 for "effrayés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering effrayer vs effrayés

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “effrayer”; for an adjective, it's “effrayés”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “effrayer” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list