paralyservsparalysésWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#31,166
“paralyser” frequency rank
#40,906
“paralysés” frequency rank
72072
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature paralyser paralysés
Definition Frapper de paralysie. Masculin pluriel de paralysé.

Where the spellings diverge

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

9 ch
paralyser
9 ch
paralysés

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: paralyser and paralysés carry the same recorded pronunciation, \pa.ʁa.li.ze\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72072, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

paralyser is recorded at frequency rank #31,166, classified as averb, pronounced \pa.ʁa.li.ze\. paralysés is at rank #40,906, tagged as anadj, 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 72072, this pair ranks #45,314 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of paralyser vs paralysés

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

"paralyser" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC  ·  "paralysés" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

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

Frequency comparison

paralyser#31,166
paralysés#40,906

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "paralyser" and "paralysés" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "paralyser" is a verb and "paralysés" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "paralyser" or "paralysés"?
"paralyser" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,166 in our French list, against #40,906 for "paralysés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering paralyser vs paralysés

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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