rencontrervsrencontrezConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,374
“rencontrer” frequency rank
#19,967
“rencontrez” frequency rank
21341
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rencontrer rencontrez
Definition Trouver en chemin une personne ou une chose. Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de rencontrer.

Same sound, different letters: rencontrer vs rencontrez

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 9 letters.

10 ch
rencontrer
10 ch
rencontrez

Homophone desk: rencontrer vs rencontrez

This is the hard kind. rencontrer and rencontrez are pronounced identically (\ʁɑ̃.kɔ̃.tʁe\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by a single letter - r in “rencontrer” becomes z in “rencontrez”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21341, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rencontrer is recorded at frequency rank #1,374, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁɑ̃.kɔ̃.tʁe\. 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 21341, this pair ranks #363,677 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of rencontrer vs rencontrez

Shared letters: cenort. Private to "rencontrer": -. Private to "rencontrez": z.

"rencontrer" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVC  ·  "rencontrez" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rencontrererncontrer · recnontrer · renccontrer · rencnotrer · renconntrer · renconrter · renconterr · rencontrerr
  • rencontrezerncontrez · recnontrez · renccontrez · rencnotrez · renconntrez · renconrtez · renconterz · rencontrezz

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "rencontrer" for "rencontrez" ever safe?
No. They are pronounced the same (\ʁɑ̃.kɔ̃.tʁe\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Frequency check: "rencontrer" vs "rencontrez" - which ranks higher?
"rencontrer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,374 in our French list, against #19,967 for "rencontrez". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

You've separated the homophone pair "rencontrer" / "rencontrez". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.

  • Full dictionary entry for "rencontrer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rencontrez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #363,677 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rencontrer" and "rencontrez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rencontrerez vs rencontrez". 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 #363,677 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