éprouvéevséprouvetteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: éprouvée is a adjective, éprouvette is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“éprouvée” is an adjective and “éprouvette” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#26,935
“éprouvée” frequency rank
#48,879
“éprouvette” frequency rank
75814
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature éprouvée éprouvette
Definition Féminin singulier de éprouvé. Instrument à l’aide duquel on vérifie la qualité, l’état de certaines matières.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set éprouvée and éprouvette apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
éprouvée
10 ch
éprouvette

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: éprouvée is \e.pʁu.ve\ while éprouvette is \e.pʁu.vɛt\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75814, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

éprouvée is recorded at frequency rank #26,935, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.pʁu.ve\. éprouvette is at rank #48,879, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.pʁu.vɛt\.

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 75814, this pair ranks #32,935 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of éprouvée vs éprouvette

Shared letters: eopruvé. Private to "éprouvée": -. Private to "éprouvette": t.

"éprouvée" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVV  ·  "éprouvette" · 10 letters · shape VCCVVCVCCV

Frequency comparison

éprouvée#26,935
éprouvette#48,879

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "éprouvée" and "éprouvette" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "éprouvée" is an adjective and "éprouvette" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "éprouvée" or "éprouvette"?
"éprouvée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,935 in our French list, against #48,879 for "éprouvette". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering éprouvée vs éprouvette

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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