parléevsparlerWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#18,272
“parlée” frequency rank
#245
“parler” frequency rank
18517
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature parlée parler
Definition Féminin singulier de parlé. User de la faculté du langage ; proférer, prononcer, articuler des mots.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set parlée and parler apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
parlée
6 ch
parler

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: parlée and parler carry the same recorded pronunciation, \paʁ.le\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, 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 18517, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

parlée is recorded at frequency rank #18,272, classified as anadj, pronounced \paʁ.le\. parler is at rank #245, tagged as averb, pronounced \paʁ.le\.

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 18517, this pair ranks #377,911 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of parlée vs parler

Shared letters: aelpr. Private to "parlée": é. Private to "parler": -.

"parlée" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "parler" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • parleraprler · palrer · parelr · parlerr · parller · parlre · parrler · pparler

Frequency comparison

parlée#18,272
parler#245

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "parlée" and "parler" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "parlée" is an adjective and "parler" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "parlée" or "parler"?
"parler" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #245 in our French list, against #18,272 for "parlée". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering parlée vs parler

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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