Which to use
“emprunté” is a verb and “empruntée” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,998
- “emprunté” frequency rank
- #23,533
- “empruntée” frequency rank
- 32531
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | emprunté | empruntée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participe passé de emprunter. | Féminin singulier de emprunté. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set emprunté and empruntée apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: emprunté and empruntée carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ɑ̃.pʁœ̃.te\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “emprunté” sits inside “empruntée”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32531, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
emprunté is recorded at frequency rank #8,998, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.pʁœ̃.te\. empruntée is at rank #23,533, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɑ̃.pʁœ̃.te\.
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 32531, this pair ranks #296,650 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of emprunté vs empruntée
Shared letters: emnprtué. Private to "emprunté": -. Private to "empruntée": -.
"emprunté" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCCV · "empruntée" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVV
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "emprunté" and "empruntée" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "emprunté" or "empruntée"?
Remembering emprunté vs empruntée
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “emprunté”; for an adjective, it's “empruntée”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “emprunté” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable