Which to use
“reconnaît” and “reconnaître” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,497
- “reconnaît” frequency rank
- #2,593
- “reconnaître” frequency rank
- 6090
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | reconnaît | reconnaître |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de reconnaître. | Retrouver dans sa mémoire l’idée, l’image d’une personne, d’une chose, quand on vient à la revoir ou à l’entendre. |
Where the eye mixes reconnaît and reconnaître
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. reconnaît runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVVC) against reconnaître's 11 (CVCVCCVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses reconnaît with reconnaître
A purely visual mix-up. reconnaît (\ʁə.kɔ.nɛ\) and reconnaître (\ʁə.kɔ.nɛtʁ\) 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) - “reconnaît” sits inside “reconnaître”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6090, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
reconnaît is recorded at frequency rank #3,497, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.kɔ.nɛ\. reconnaître is at rank #2,593, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.kɔ.nɛtʁ\.
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 6090, this pair ranks #427,204 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of reconnaît vs reconnaître
Shared letters: acenortî. Private to "reconnaît": -. Private to "reconnaître": -.
"reconnaît" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC · "reconnaître" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "reconnaît" and "reconnaître" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "reconnaît" or "reconnaître" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "reconnaît" and "reconnaître" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "reconnaît" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "reconnaître" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #427,204 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "reconnaît" and "reconnaître" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "reconnaît vs renonçait". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #427,204 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.