Which to use
“éprouve” is a verb and “éprouvée” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,509
- “éprouve” frequency rank
- #26,935
- “éprouvée” frequency rank
- 38444
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | éprouve | éprouvée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de éprouver. | Féminin singulier de éprouvé. |
Where the eye mixes éprouve and éprouvée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. éprouve runs 7 letters (VCCVVCV) against éprouvée's 8 (VCCVVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: éprouve vs éprouvée
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: éprouve is \e.pʁuv\ while éprouvée is \e.pʁu.ve\. 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 38444, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
éprouve is recorded at frequency rank #11,509, classified as averb, pronounced \e.pʁuv\. éprouvée is at rank #26,935, tagged as anadj, pronounced \e.pʁu.ve\.
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 38444, this pair ranks #255,219 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of éprouve vs éprouvée
Shared letters: eopruvé. Private to "éprouve": -. Private to "éprouvée": -.
"éprouve" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCV · "éprouvée" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "éprouve" for "éprouvée" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "éprouve" or "éprouvée" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "éprouve" and "éprouvée" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "éprouve" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "éprouvée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #255,219 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "éprouve" and "éprouvée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "éprouvée vs éprouvette". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #255,219 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.