résuméevsrésumerTell them apart

Which to use

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

#28,340
“résumée” frequency rank
#8,777
“résumer” frequency rank
37117
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature résumée résumer
Definition Participe passé féminin singulier de résumer. Resserrer et rendre en peu de paroles ce qu’il y a de plus important dans une discussion, dans un discours, dans un argument.

Same sound, different letters: résumée vs résumer

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters.

7 ch
résumée
7 ch
résumer

Ear matches; page differs - résumée and résumer

This is the hard kind. résumée and résumer are pronounced identically (\ʁe.zy.me\) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37117, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

résumée is recorded at frequency rank #28,340, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁe.zy.me\. résumer is at rank #8,777, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁe.zy.me\.

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 37117, this pair ranks #264,771 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of résumée vs résumer

Shared letters: emrsué. Private to "résumée": -. Private to "résumer": -.

"résumée" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV  ·  "résumer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "résumée" and "résumer" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\ʁe.zy.me\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
In ordinary French text, does "résumée" or "résumer" show up more?
"résumer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,777 in our French list, against #28,340 for "résumée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.

  • Full dictionary entry for "résumée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "résumer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #264,771 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "résumée" and "résumer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "régulée vs résumée". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #264,771 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