Which to use
“reconnais” and “reconnaisse” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,433
- “reconnais” frequency rank
- #22,391
- “reconnaisse” frequency rank
- 28824
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reconnais | reconnaisse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de reconnaître (ou reconnaitre). | Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de reconnaître (ou reconnaitre). |
Where the eye mixes reconnais and reconnaisse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. reconnais runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVVC) against reconnaisse's 11 (CVCVCCVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between reconnais and reconnaisse
A purely visual mix-up. reconnais (\ʁə.kɔ.nɛ\) and reconnaisse (\ʁə.kɔ.nɛs\) 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 extra letter(s) - “reconnais” sits inside “reconnaisse”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28824, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
reconnais is recorded at frequency rank #6,433, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.kɔ.nɛ\. reconnaisse is at rank #22,391, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.kɔ.nɛs\.
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 28824, this pair ranks #320,476 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of reconnais vs reconnaisse
Shared letters: aceinors. Private to "reconnais": -. Private to "reconnaisse": -.
"reconnais" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC · "reconnaisse" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- reconnais ← erconnais · rceonnais · recconnais · recnonais · reconais · reconanis · reconnaiss · reconnasi
- reconnaisse ← erconnaisse · rceonnaisse · recconnaisse · recnonaisse · reconaisse · reconanisse · reconnaise · reconnaises
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "reconnais" for "reconnaisse" ever safe?
Frequency check: "reconnais" vs "reconnaisse" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "reconnais" and "reconnaisse" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "reconnais" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "reconnaisse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #320,476 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reconnais" and "reconnaisse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "racontais vs reconnais". 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 #320,476 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.