ennuievsennuyéeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ennuie is a verb, ennuyée is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ennuie” is a verb and “ennuyée” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,819
“ennuie” frequency rank
#46,145
“ennuyée” frequency rank
52964
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ennuie ennuyée
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de ennuyer. Féminin singulier de ennuyé.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
ennuie
7 ch
ennuyée

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ennuie is \ɑ̃.nɥi\ while ennuyée is \ɑ̃.nɥi.je\. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52964, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ennuie is recorded at frequency rank #6,819, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.nɥi\. ennuyée is at rank #46,145, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɑ̃.nɥi.je\.

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 52964, this pair ranks #144,052 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ennuie vs ennuyée

Shared letters: enu. Private to "ennuie": i. Private to "ennuyée": .

"ennuie" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVV  ·  "ennuyée" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ennuieenniue · ennuei · enuie · enunie · nenuie

Frequency comparison

ennuie#6,819
ennuyée#46,145

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ennuie" and "ennuyée" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ennuie" is a verb and "ennuyée" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ennuie" or "ennuyée"?
"ennuie" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,819 in our French list, against #46,145 for "ennuyée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ennuie vs ennuyée

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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