Which to use
“énervé” is an adjective and “exercé” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,258
- “énervé” frequency rank
- #10,320
- “exercé” frequency rank
- 19578
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | énervé | exercé |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui a subi le supplice de l’énervation. | Participe passé masculin singulier de exercer. |
Where the eye mixes énervé and exercé
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. énervé and exercé follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: énervé vs exercé
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: énervé is \e.nɛʁ.ve\ while exercé is \ɛɡ.zɛʁ.se\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19578, 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\. exercé is at rank #10,320, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛɡ.zɛʁ.se\.
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 19578, this pair ranks #372,572 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of énervé vs exercé
Shared letters: eré. Private to "énervé": nv. Private to "exercé": cx.
"énervé" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV · "exercé" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "énervé" and "exercé" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "énervé" vs "exercé" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
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 "exercé" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #372,572 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "énervé" and "exercé" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "exercé vs exercera". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #372,572 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.