relâchervsrelâchésWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#17,542
“relâcher” frequency rank
#30,335
“relâchés” frequency rank
47877
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature relâcher relâchés
Definition Faire qu’une chose soit moins tendue. Masculin pluriel de relâché.

Where the spellings diverge

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

8 ch
relâcher
8 ch
relâchés

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: relâcher is \ʁə.lɑ.ʃe\ while relâchés is \ʁə.la.ʃe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47877, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

relâcher is recorded at frequency rank #17,542, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.lɑ.ʃe\. relâchés is at rank #30,335, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁə.la.ʃe\.

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 47877, this pair ranks #183,435 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of relâcher vs relâchés

Shared letters: cehlrâ. Private to "relâcher": -. Private to "relâchés": .

"relâcher" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "relâchés" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Frequency comparison

relâcher#17,542
relâchés#30,335

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "relâcher" and "relâchés" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "relâcher" is a verb and "relâchés" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "relâcher" or "relâchés"?
"relâcher" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,542 in our French list, against #30,335 for "relâchés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering relâcher vs relâchés

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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