lâchavslâchéWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: lâcha is a verb, lâché is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#44,554
“lâcha” frequency rank
#6,973
“lâché” frequency rank
51527
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lâcha lâché
Definition Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de lâcher. Quelque chose qui est négligé, qui manque de précision, de vigueur.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lâcha and lâché apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
lâcha
5 ch
lâché

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lâcha is \la.ʃa\ while lâché is \la.ʃe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “lâcha” becomes é in “lâché”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51527, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lâcha is recorded at frequency rank #44,554, classified as averb, pronounced \la.ʃa\. lâché is at rank #6,973, tagged as anadj, pronounced \la.ʃe\.

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 51527, this pair ranks #154,372 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lâcha vs lâché

Shared letters: chlâ. Private to "lâcha": a. Private to "lâché": é.

"lâcha" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "lâché" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Frequency comparison

lâcha#44,554
lâché#6,973

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lâcha" and "lâché" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lâcha" is a verb and "lâché" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lâcha" or "lâché"?
"lâché" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,973 in our French list, against #44,554 for "lâcha". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lâcha vs lâché

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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