élargievsénergieWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#16,516
“élargie” frequency rank
#861
“énergie” frequency rank
17377
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature élargie énergie
Definition Participe passé féminin singulier de élargir. Force en action.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set élargie and énergie apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
élargie
7 ch
énergie

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: élargie is \e.laʁ.ʒi\ while énergie is \e.nɛʁ.ʒi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17377, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

élargie is recorded at frequency rank #16,516, classified as averb, pronounced \e.laʁ.ʒi\. énergie is at rank #861, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.nɛʁ.ʒi\.

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 17377, this pair ranks #383,484 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of élargie vs énergie

Shared letters: egiré. Private to "élargie": al. Private to "énergie": n.

"élargie" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVV  ·  "énergie" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVV

Frequency comparison

élargie#16,516
énergie#861

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "élargie" and "énergie" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "élargie" is a verb and "énergie" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "élargie" or "énergie"?
"énergie" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #861 in our French list, against #16,516 for "élargie". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering élargie vs énergie

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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