Which to use
“récompense” is a noun and “récompenser” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,182
- “récompense” frequency rank
- #13,683
- “récompenser” frequency rank
- 17865
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | récompense | récompenser |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Bien qu’on fait à quelqu’un, en reconnaissance d’un service ou en faveur d’une bonne action. | Donner une récompense, faire du bien à quelqu’un en reconnaissance de quelque service, ou en faveur de quelque bonne action. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set récompense and récompenser apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
récompense and récompenser form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “récompense” sits inside “récompenser” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17865, 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\. récompenser is at rank #13,683, 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 17865, this pair ranks #381,089 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "récompense" and "récompenser" be used interchangeably?
Remembering récompense vs récompenser
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 “récompenser”.
- 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