Which to use
“énervé” is an adjective and “enterré” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,258
- “énervé” frequency rank
- #7,688
- “enterré” frequency rank
- 16946
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | énervé | enterré |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui a subi le supplice de l’énervation. | Participe passé masculin singulier de enterrer. |
Where the eye mixes énervé and enterré
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. énervé runs 6 letters (VCVCCV) against enterré's 7 (VCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses énervé with enterré
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: énervé is \e.nɛʁ.ve\ while enterré is \ɑ̃.te.ʁe\. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16946, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
énervé is recorded at frequency rank #9,258, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.nɛʁ.ve\. enterré is at rank #7,688, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.te.ʁe\.
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 16946, this pair ranks #385,512 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of énervé vs enterré
Shared letters: enré. Private to "énervé": v. Private to "enterré": t.
"énervé" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV · "enterré" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "énervé" and "enterré" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "énervé" or "enterré" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "énervé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "enterré" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #385,512 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "énervé" and "enterré" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "enterré vs entêté". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #385,512 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.