rapprochevsrapprocherWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,491
“rapproche” frequency rank
#5,697
“rapprocher” frequency rank
11188
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rapproche rapprocher
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de rapprocher. Approcher de nouveau.

Where the eye mixes rapproche and rapprocher

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. rapproche runs 9 letters (CVCCCVCCV) against rapprocher's 10 (CVCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
rapproche
10 ch
rapprocher

Visual trap between rapproche and rapprocher

A purely visual mix-up. rapproche (\ʁa.pʁɔʃ\) and rapprocher (\ʁa.pʁɔ.ʃe\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “rapproche” sits inside “rapprocher”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11188, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rapproche is recorded at frequency rank #5,491, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁa.pʁɔʃ\. rapprocher is at rank #5,697, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁa.pʁɔ.ʃe\.

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 11188, this pair ranks #410,117 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of rapproche vs rapprocher

Shared letters: acehopr. Private to "rapproche": -. Private to "rapprocher": -.

"rapproche" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCCV  ·  "rapprocher" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rapproche ← arpproche · rapporche · rapprcohe · rapprocche · rapproceh · rapprochhe · rapprohce · rapprroche
  • rapprocher ← arpprocher · rapporcher · rapprcoher · rapproccher · rapprocehr · rapprocherr · rapprochher · rapprochre

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "rapproche" for "rapprocher" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\ʁa.pʁɔʃ\ versus \ʁa.pʁɔ.ʃe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "rapproche" vs "rapprocher" - which ranks higher?
"rapproche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,491 in our French list, against #5,697 for "rapprocher". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "rapproche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rapprocher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #410,117 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rapproche" and "rapprocher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rapprochées vs rapprocher". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #410,117 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list