privilégiervsprivilégiésWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#10,554
“privilégier” frequency rank
#11,107
“privilégiés” frequency rank
21661
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature privilégier privilégiés
Definition Gratifier, doter d’un privilège, favoriser. Masculin pluriel de privilégié.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set privilégier and privilégiés apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

11 ch
privilégier
11 ch
privilégiés

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: privilégier and privilégiés carry the same recorded pronunciation, \pʁi.vi.le.ʒje\. 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 21661, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

privilégier is recorded at frequency rank #10,554, classified as averb, pronounced \pʁi.vi.le.ʒje\. privilégiés is at rank #11,107, tagged as anadj, 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 21661, this pair ranks #362,065 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of privilégier vs privilégiés

Shared letters: gilprvé. Private to "privilégier": e. Private to "privilégiés": s.

"privilégier" · 11 letters · shape CCVCVCVCVVC  ·  "privilégiés" · 11 letters · shape CCVCVCVCVVC

Frequency comparison

privilégier#10,554
privilégiés#11,107

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "privilégier" and "privilégiés" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "privilégier" is a verb and "privilégiés" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "privilégier" or "privilégiés"?
"privilégier" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,554 in our French list, against #11,107 for "privilégiés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering privilégier vs privilégiés

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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