référévsreferméeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: référé is a noun, refermée is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#22,408
“référé” frequency rank
#44,139
“refermée” frequency rank
66547
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature référé refermée
Definition Recours au juge qui, dans les cas d’urgence, prend une décision provisoire. Participe passé féminin singulier de refermer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set référé and refermée apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
référé
8 ch
refermée

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: référé is \ʁe.fe.ʁe\ while refermée is \ʁə.fɛʁ.me\. 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 66547, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

référé is recorded at frequency rank #22,408, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁe.fe.ʁe\. refermée is at rank #44,139, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.fɛʁ.me\.

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 66547, this pair ranks #67,329 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of référé vs refermée

Shared letters: fré. Private to "référé": -. Private to "refermée": em.

"référé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "refermée" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV

Frequency comparison

référé#22,408
refermée#44,139

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "référé" and "refermée" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "référé" is a noun and "refermée" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "référé" or "refermée"?
"référé" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,408 in our French list, against #44,139 for "refermée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering référé vs refermée

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “référé”; for a verb, it's “refermée”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “référé” 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