harcèlevsharcelésWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“harcèle” and “harcelés” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#26,393
“harcèle” frequency rank
#47,371
“harcelés” frequency rank
73764
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature harcèle harcelés
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de harceler. Participe passé masculin pluriel de harceler.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set harcèle and harcelés apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
harcèle
8 ch
harcelés

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. harcèle (^((h aspiré))\aʁ.sɛl\) and harcelés (^((h aspiré))\aʁ.sə.le\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73764, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

harcèle is recorded at frequency rank #26,393, classified as averb, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\aʁ.sɛl\. harcelés is at rank #47,371, tagged as averb, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\aʁ.sə.le\.

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 73764, this pair ranks #39,354 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of harcèle vs harcelés

Shared letters: acehlr. Private to "harcèle": è. Private to "harcelés": .

"harcèle" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "harcelés" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Frequency comparison

harcèle#26,393
harcelés#47,371

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "harcèle" and "harcelés" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (^((h aspiré))\aʁ.sɛl\ versus ^((h aspiré))\aʁ.sə.le\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "harcèle" or "harcelés"?
"harcèle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,393 in our French list, against #47,371 for "harcelés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering harcèle vs harcelés

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “harcèle” 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