remplacervsreplacerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“remplacer” and “replacer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,245
“remplacer” frequency rank
#22,070
“replacer” frequency rank
24315
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature remplacer replacer
Definition Succéder à quelqu’un dans une place, dans un emploi. Remettre à sa place.

Where the eye mixes remplacer and replacer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. remplacer runs 9 letters (CVCCCVCVC) against replacer's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
remplacer
8 ch
replacer

Why the eye confuses remplacer with replacer

A purely visual mix-up. remplacer (\ʁɑ̃.pla.se\) and replacer (\ʁə.pla.se\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24315, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

remplacer is recorded at frequency rank #2,245, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁɑ̃.pla.se\. replacer is at rank #22,070, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.pla.se\.

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 24315, this pair ranks #347,302 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of remplacer vs replacer

Shared letters: acelpr. Private to "remplacer": m. Private to "replacer": -.

"remplacer" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC  ·  "replacer" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • remplacer ← ermplacer · remlpacer · remmplacer · rempalcer · remplaccer · remplacerr · remplacre · remplaecr
  • replacer ← erplacer · relpacer · repalcer · replaccer · replacerr · replacre · replaecr · replcaer

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "remplacer" and "replacer" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁɑ̃.pla.se\ versus \ʁə.pla.se\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "remplacer" vs "replacer" - which ranks higher?
"remplacer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,245 in our French list, against #22,070 for "replacer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "remplacer" and "replacer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "remplacer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "replacer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #347,302 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "remplacer" and "replacer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "replacé vs replacer". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #347,302 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list