refoulervsrefoulésWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: refouler is a verb, refoulés is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“refouler” is a verb and “refoulés” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#32,152
“refouler” frequency rank
#36,125
“refoulés” frequency rank
68277
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature refouler refoulés
Definition Fouler (presser) de nouveau. Masculin pluriel de refoulé.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set refouler and refoulés apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
refouler
8 ch
refoulés

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: refouler and refoulés carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ʁə.fu.le\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68277, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

refouler is recorded at frequency rank #32,152, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.fu.le\. refoulés is at rank #36,125, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁə.fu.le\.

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 68277, this pair ranks #59,803 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of refouler vs refoulés

Shared letters: efloru. Private to "refouler": -. Private to "refoulés": .

"refouler" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC  ·  "refoulés" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • refoulererfouler · reffouler · refoluer · refouelr · refoulerr · refouller · refoulre · refuoler

Frequency comparison

refouler#32,152
refoulés#36,125

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "refouler" and "refoulés" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "refouler" is a verb and "refoulés" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "refouler" or "refoulés"?
"refouler" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,152 in our French list, against #36,125 for "refoulés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering refouler vs refoulés

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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