Which to use
“excède” is a verb and “excuse” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,543
- “excède” frequency rank
- #2,422
- “excuse” frequency rank
- 25965
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | excède | excuse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de excéder. | Raison que l’on allègue pour expliquer ou atténuer une faute. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set excède and excuse apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: excède is \ɛk.sɛd\ while excuse is \ɛks.kyz\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25965, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
excède is recorded at frequency rank #23,543, classified as averb, pronounced \ɛk.sɛd\. excuse is at rank #2,422, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛks.kyz\.
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 25965, this pair ranks #337,850 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of excède vs excuse
Shared letters: cex. Private to "excède": dè. Private to "excuse": su.
"excède" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "excuse" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- excuse ← ecxuse · exccuse · excsue · excues · excusse · exucse · exxcuse · xecuse
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "excède" and "excuse" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "excède" or "excuse"?
Remembering excède vs excuse
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “excède”; for a noun, it's “excuse”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “excède” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable