privilégiéevsprivilégierWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#11,835
“privilégiée” frequency rank
#10,554
“privilégier” frequency rank
22389
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature privilégiée privilégier
Definition Féminin singulier de privilégié. Gratifier, doter d’un privilège, favoriser.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set privilégiée and privilégier apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

11 ch
privilégiée
11 ch
privilégier

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: privilégiée and privilégier carry the same recorded pronunciation, \pʁi.vi.le.ʒje\. 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 22389, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

privilégiée is recorded at frequency rank #11,835, classified as anadj, pronounced \pʁi.vi.le.ʒje\. privilégier is at rank #10,554, tagged as averb, pronounced \pʁi.vi.le.ʒje\.

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 22389, this pair ranks #358,246 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of privilégiée vs privilégier

Shared letters: egilprvé. Private to "privilégiée": -. Private to "privilégier": -.

"privilégiée" · 11 letters · shape CCVCVCVCVVV  ·  "privilégier" · 11 letters · shape CCVCVCVCVVC

Frequency comparison

privilégiée#11,835
privilégier#10,554

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "privilégiée" and "privilégier" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "privilégiée" is an adjective and "privilégier" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "privilégiée" or "privilégier"?
"privilégier" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,554 in our French list, against #11,835 for "privilégiée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering privilégiée vs privilégier

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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