modernesvsmoderniséTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#3,547
“modernes” frequency rank
#38,921
“modernisé” frequency rank
42468
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature modernes modernisé
Definition Pluriel de moderne. Participe passé masculin singulier de moderniser.

Where the eye mixes modernes and modernisé

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. modernes runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against modernisé's 9 (CVCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
modernes
9 ch
modernisé

Visual trap between modernes and modernisé

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: modernes is \mɔ.dɛʁn\ while modernisé is \mɔ.dɛʁ.ni.ze\. 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 42468, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

modernes is recorded at frequency rank #3,547, classified as anadj, pronounced \mɔ.dɛʁn\. modernisé is at rank #38,921, tagged as averb, pronounced \mɔ.dɛʁ.ni.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 42468, this pair ranks #225,388 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of modernes vs modernisé

Shared letters: demnors. Private to "modernes": -. Private to "modernisé": .

"modernes" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "modernisé" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • modernesmdoernes · mmodernes · moddernes · modenres · moderens · moderness · modernnes · modernse

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "modernes" and "modernisé" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "modernes" is an adjective and "modernisé" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "modernes" or "modernisé"?
"modernes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,547 in our French list, against #38,921 for "modernisé". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "modernes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "modernisé" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #225,388 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "modernes" and "modernisé" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "modernisé vs modernisée". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #225,388 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