épuiséesvsépuiserWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: épuisées is a adjective, épuiser is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#36,675
“épuisées” frequency rank
#24,455
“épuiser” frequency rank
61130
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature épuisées épuiser
Definition Féminin pluriel de épuisé. Mettre à sec en puisant, tarir.

Same sound, different letters: épuisées vs épuiser

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. épuisées runs 8 letters (VCVVCVVC) against épuiser's 7 (VCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
épuisées
7 ch
épuiser

Same sound, different spelling - épuisées / épuiser

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: épuisées and épuiser carry the same recorded pronunciation, \e.pɥi.ze\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61130, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

épuisées is recorded at frequency rank #36,675, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.pɥi.ze\. épuiser is at rank #24,455, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.pɥi.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 61130, this pair ranks #93,917 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of épuisées vs épuiser

Shared letters: eipsué. Private to "épuisées": -. Private to "épuiser": r.

"épuisées" · 8 letters · shape VCVVCVVC  ·  "épuiser" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "épuisées" and "épuiser" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "épuisées" is an adjective and "épuiser" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "épuisées" or "épuiser" show up more?
"épuiser" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,455 in our French list, against #36,675 for "épuisées". 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 "épuisées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "épuiser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #93,917 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "épuisées" and "épuiser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épier vs épuiser". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #93,917 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