paralysévsparalyserWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#18,821
“paralysé” frequency rank
#31,166
“paralyser” frequency rank
49987
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature paralysé paralyser
Definition Atteint de paralysie. Frapper de paralysie.

Where the spellings diverge

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

8 ch
paralysé
9 ch
paralyser

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: paralysé and paralyser carry the same recorded pronunciation, \pa.ʁa.li.ze\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49987, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

paralysé is recorded at frequency rank #18,821, classified as anadj, pronounced \pa.ʁa.li.ze\. paralyser is at rank #31,166, tagged as averb, pronounced \pa.ʁa.li.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 49987, this pair ranks #166,212 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of paralysé vs paralyser

Shared letters: alprsy. Private to "paralysé": é. Private to "paralyser": e.

"paralysé" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV  ·  "paralyser" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • paralyserapralyser · paarlyser · parallyser · paralsyer · paralyesr · paralyserr · paralysre · paralysser

Frequency comparison

paralysé#18,821
paralyser#31,166

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "paralysé" and "paralyser" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "paralysé" is an adjective and "paralyser" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "paralysé" or "paralyser"?
"paralysé" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,821 in our French list, against #31,166 for "paralyser". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering paralysé vs paralyser

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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