recentvsrécentesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,953
“recent” frequency rank
#5,395
“récentes” frequency rank
46348
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recent récentes
Definition Récent. Féminin pluriel de récent.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set recent and récentes apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
recent
8 ch
récentes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. recent (\ˈɹiː.sənt\) and récentes (\ʁe.sɑ̃t\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46348, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recent is recorded at frequency rank #40,953, classified as anadj, pronounced \ˈɹiː.sənt\. récentes is at rank #5,395, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁe.sɑ̃t\.

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 46348, this pair ranks #195,702 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of recent vs récentes

Shared letters: cenrt. Private to "recent": -. Private to "récentes": .

"recent" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "récentes" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recentercent · rceent · reccent · recennt · recentt · recetn · recnet · reecnt

Frequency comparison

recent#40,953
récentes#5,395

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "recent" and "récentes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ˈɹiː.sənt\ versus \ʁe.sɑ̃t\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "recent" or "récentes"?
"récentes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,395 in our French list, against #40,953 for "recent". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering recent vs récentes

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 “recent” 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