Which to use
“obligé” and “obligées” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,780
- “obligé” frequency rank
- #23,628
- “obligées” frequency rank
- 25408
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | obligé | obligées |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est d’usage, dont on ne peut guère se dispenser ; obligatoire. | Féminin pluriel de obligé. |
Letter map: obligé vs obligées
Shared letters muted; letters that set obligé and obligées apart highlighted. Shared run: 6. obligé runs 6 letters (VCCVCV) against obligées's 8 (VCCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Corpus notes: obligé and obligées
obligé and obligées are indexed as a confusable French pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “obligé” sits inside “obligées”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25408, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
obligé is recorded at frequency rank #1,780, classified as anadj. obligées is at rank #23,628, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɔ.bli.ʒe\.
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 25408, this pair ranks #341,045 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of obligé vs obligées
Shared letters: bgiloé. Private to "obligé": -. Private to "obligées": es.
"obligé" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "obligées" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "obligé" and "obligées" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "obligé" or "obligées" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pair "obligé" vs "obligées" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "obligé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "obligées" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #341,045 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "obligé" and "obligées" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "obligea vs obligées". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #341,045 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.