recalévsrefiléWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,998
“recalé” frequency rank
#35,239
“refilé” frequency rank
77237
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recalé refilé
Definition Participe passé masculin singulier du verbe recaler. Participe passé masculin singulier de refiler.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set recalé and refilé apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
recalé
6 ch
refilé

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. recalé (\ʁə.ka.le\) and refilé (\ʁə.fi.le\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77237, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recalé is recorded at frequency rank #41,998, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.ka.le\. refilé is at rank #35,239, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.fi.le\.

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 77237, this pair ranks #28,978 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of recalé vs refilé

Shared letters: elré. Private to "recalé": ac. Private to "refilé": fi.

"recalé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "refilé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Frequency comparison

recalé#41,998
refilé#35,239

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "recalé" and "refilé" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁə.ka.le\ versus \ʁə.fi.le\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "recalé" or "refilé"?
"refilé" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,239 in our French list, against #41,998 for "recalé". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering recalé vs refilé

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 “recalé” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list