polluervspolluésWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“polluer” and “pollués” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#29,084
“polluer” frequency rank
#40,931
“pollués” frequency rank
70015
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature polluer pollués
Definition Rejeter des produits nocifs dans l’environnement. Participe passé masculin pluriel de polluer.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
polluer
7 ch
pollués

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. polluer and pollués are pronounced identically (\pɔ.lɥe\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70015, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

polluer is recorded at frequency rank #29,084, classified as averb, pronounced \pɔ.lɥe\. pollués is at rank #40,931, tagged as averb, pronounced \pɔ.lɥe\.

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 70015, this pair ranks #52,952 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of polluer vs pollués

Shared letters: lopu. Private to "polluer": er. Private to "pollués": .

"polluer" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "pollués" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pollueroplluer · ploluer · polleur · polluerr · pollure · poluer · poluler · ppolluer

Frequency comparison

polluer#29,084
pollués#40,931

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "polluer" and "pollués" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\pɔ.lɥe\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "polluer" or "pollués"?
"polluer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,084 in our French list, against #40,931 for "pollués". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering polluer vs pollués

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “polluer” 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