récompense vs récompensées, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“récompense” is a noun and “récompensées” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,182
“récompense” frequency rank: #48,175
“récompensées” frequency rank: 52357
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	récompense	récompensées
Definition	Bien qu’on fait à quelqu’un, en reconnaissance d’un service ou en faveur d’une bonne action.	Participe passé féminin pluriel de récompenser.

Where the spellings diverge

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

10 ch

récompense

12 ch

récompensées

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: récompense is \ʁe.kɔ̃.pɑ̃s\ while récompensées is \ʁe.kɔ̃.pɑ̃.se\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52357, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

récompense is recorded at frequency rank #4,182, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁe.kɔ̃.pɑ̃s\. récompensées is at rank #48,175, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁe.kɔ̃.pɑ̃.se\.

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 52357, this pair ranks #148,294 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of récompense vs récompensées

Shared letters: cemnoprsé. Private to "récompense": -. Private to "récompensées": -.

"récompense" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCV · "récompensées" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCVVC

Frequency comparison

récompense#4,182

récompensées#48,175

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "récompense" and "récompensées" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "récompense" is a noun and "récompensées" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "récompense" or "récompensées"?

"récompense" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,182 in our French list, against #48,175 for "récompensées". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering récompense vs récompensées

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “récompense”; for a verb, it's “récompensées”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “récompense” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable