Which to use
“énergie” is a noun and “énervé” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #861
- “énergie” frequency rank
- #9,258
- “énervé” frequency rank
- 10119
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | énergie | énervé |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Force en action. | Qui a subi le supplice de l’énervation. |
Where the eye mixes énergie and énervé
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. énergie runs 7 letters (VCVCCVV) against énervé's 6 (VCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between énergie and énervé
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: énergie is \e.nɛʁ.ʒi\ while énervé is \e.nɛʁ.ve\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10119, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
énergie is recorded at frequency rank #861, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.nɛʁ.ʒi\. énervé is at rank #9,258, tagged as anadj, pronounced \e.nɛʁ.ve\.
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 10119, this pair ranks #414,145 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of énergie vs énervé
Shared letters: enré. Private to "énergie": gi. Private to "énervé": v.
"énergie" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVV · "énervé" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "énergie" and "énervé" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "énergie" or "énervé"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "énergie" and "énervé" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "énergie" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "énervé" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #414,145 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "énergie" and "énervé" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "émergée vs énergie". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #414,145 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.