prévenuevsprévueWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: prévenue is a noun, prévue is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“prévenue” is a noun and “prévue” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,385
“prévenue” frequency rank
#3,561
“prévue” frequency rank
25946
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature prévenue prévue
Definition Celle qui comparaît devant un tribunal correctionnel, à la suite de la commission soupçonnée d’un ou plusieurs délits. Féminin singulier de prévu.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set prévenue and prévue apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
prévenue
6 ch
prévue

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: prévenue is \pʁɛv.ny\ while prévue is \pʁe.vy\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25946, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

prévenue is recorded at frequency rank #22,385, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁɛv.ny\. prévue is at rank #3,561, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pʁe.vy\.

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 25946, this pair ranks #337,959 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of prévenue vs prévue

Shared letters: epruvé. Private to "prévenue": n. Private to "prévue": -.

"prévenue" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVV  ·  "prévue" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV

Frequency comparison

prévenue#22,385
prévue#3,561

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "prévenue" and "prévue" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "prévenue" is a noun and "prévue" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "prévenue" or "prévue"?
"prévue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,561 in our French list, against #22,385 for "prévenue". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering prévenue vs prévue

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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