réfugiéevsréfugiésWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: réfugiée is a noun, réfugiés is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“réfugiée” is a noun and “réfugiés” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,709
“réfugiée” frequency rank
#3,421
“réfugiés” frequency rank
35130
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature réfugiée réfugiés
Definition Femme réfugiée. Masculin pluriel de réfugié.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set réfugiée and réfugiés apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
réfugiée
8 ch
réfugiés

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: réfugiée and réfugiés carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ʁe.fy.ʒje\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by a single letter - e in “réfugiée” becomes s in “réfugiés”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35130, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

réfugiée is recorded at frequency rank #31,709, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁe.fy.ʒje\. réfugiés is at rank #3,421, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁe.fy.ʒje\.

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 35130, this pair ranks #278,962 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of réfugiée vs réfugiés

Shared letters: fgirué. Private to "réfugiée": e. Private to "réfugiés": s.

"réfugiée" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVV  ·  "réfugiés" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC

Frequency comparison

réfugiée#31,709
réfugiés#3,421

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "réfugiée" and "réfugiés" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "réfugiée" is a noun and "réfugiés" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "réfugiée" or "réfugiés"?
"réfugiés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,421 in our French list, against #31,709 for "réfugiée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering réfugiée vs réfugiés

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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