franchevsfranchieWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#7,060
“franche” frequency rank
#29,362
“franchie” frequency rank
36422
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature franche franchie
Definition Féminin singulier de franc. Participe passé féminin singulier de franchir.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
franche
8 ch
franchie

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: franche is \fʁɑ̃ʃ\ while franchie is \fʁɑ̃.ʃi\. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36422, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

franche is recorded at frequency rank #7,060, classified as anadj, pronounced \fʁɑ̃ʃ\. franchie is at rank #29,362, tagged as averb, pronounced \fʁɑ̃.ʃi\.

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 36422, this pair ranks #269,735 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of franche vs franchie

Shared letters: acefhnr. Private to "franche": -. Private to "franchie": i.

"franche" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCCV  ·  "franchie" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • franchefarnche · ffranche · fracnhe · francche · franceh · franchhe · franhce · frannche
  • franchiefarnchie · ffranchie · fracnhie · francchie · franchei · franchhie · francihe · franhcie

Frequency comparison

franche#7,060
franchie#29,362

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "franche" and "franchie" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "franche" is an adjective and "franchie" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "franche" or "franchie"?
"franche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,060 in our French list, against #29,362 for "franchie". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering franche vs franchie

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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