entamevsentaméeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: entame is a noun, entamée is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“entame” is a noun and “entamée” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,479
“entame” frequency rank
#23,538
“entamée” frequency rank
33017
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature entame entamée
Definition Première tranche d’un aliment qu’on a découpé. Participe passé féminin singulier de entamer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set entame and entamée apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
entame
7 ch
entamée

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: entame is \ɑ̃.tam\ while entamée is \ɑ̃.ta.me\. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33017, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

entame is recorded at frequency rank #9,479, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃.tam\. entamée is at rank #23,538, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.ta.me\.

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 33017, this pair ranks #293,421 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of entame vs entamée

Shared letters: aemnt. Private to "entame": -. Private to "entamée": é.

"entame" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "entamée" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • entameenatme · enntame · entaem · entamme · entmae · enttame · etname · netame

Frequency comparison

entame#9,479
entamée#23,538

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "entame" and "entamée" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "entame" is a noun and "entamée" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "entame" or "entamée"?
"entame" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,479 in our French list, against #23,538 for "entamée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering entame vs entamée

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “entame”; for a verb, it's “entamée”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “entame” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list