épouséevsépouserWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#35,785
“épousée” frequency rank
#6,916
“épouser” frequency rank
42701
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature épousée épouser
Definition ou Celle qu’un homme vient d’épouser, ou qu’il va épouser. Prendre en mariage.

Same sound, different letters: épousée vs épouser

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. épousée (VCVVCVV) and épouser (VCVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
épousée
7 ch
épouser

Same sound, different spelling - épousée / épouser

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: épousée and épouser carry the same recorded pronunciation, \e.pu.ze\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42701, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

épousée is recorded at frequency rank #35,785, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.pu.ze\. épouser is at rank #6,916, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.pu.ze\.

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 42701, this pair ranks #223,605 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of épousée vs épouser

Shared letters: eopsué. Private to "épousée": -. Private to "épouser": r.

"épousée" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVV  ·  "épouser" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "épousée" and "épouser" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "épousée" is a noun and "épouser" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "épousée" or "épouser" show up more?
"épouser" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,916 in our French list, against #35,785 for "épousée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.

  • Full dictionary entry for "épousée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "épouser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #223,605 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "épousée" and "épouser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épousée vs épousent". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #223,605 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list