rencontrevsrencontrezWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#590
“rencontre” frequency rank
#19,967
“rencontrez” frequency rank
20557
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rencontre rencontrez
Definition Hasard, occasion qui fait trouver fortuitement une personne, une chose. Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de rencontrer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set rencontre and rencontrez apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
rencontre
10 ch
rencontrez

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

rencontre and rencontrez form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “rencontre” sits inside “rencontrez” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20557, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rencontre is recorded at frequency rank #590, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁɑ̃.kɔ̃tʁ\. rencontrez is at rank #19,967, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁɑ̃.kɔ̃.tʁe\.

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 20557, this pair ranks #367,671 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

rencontre#590
rencontrez#19,967

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "rencontre" and "rencontrez" be used interchangeably?
No, "rencontre" and "rencontrez" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering rencontre vs rencontrez

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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