sélectionnévssélectionnerWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: sélectionné is a adjective, sélectionner is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#6,901
“sélectionné” frequency rank
#12,871
“sélectionner” frequency rank
19772
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sélectionné sélectionner
Definition Retenu·e comme candidat·e pour un prix ou une distinction. Choisir (généralement le meilleur ou les meilleurs) parmi un groupe.

Same sound, different letters: sélectionné vs sélectionner

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 10 letters.

11 ch
sélectionné
12 ch
sélectionner

Homophone desk: sélectionné vs sélectionner

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: sélectionné and sélectionner carry the same recorded pronunciation, \se.lɛk.sjɔ.ne\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19772, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sélectionné is recorded at frequency rank #6,901, classified as anadj, pronounced \se.lɛk.sjɔ.ne\. sélectionner is at rank #12,871, tagged as averb, pronounced \se.lɛk.sjɔ.ne\.

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 19772, this pair ranks #371,631 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sélectionné vs sélectionner

Shared letters: ceilnosté. Private to "sélectionné": -. Private to "sélectionner": r.

"sélectionné" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVVCCV  ·  "sélectionner" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCVVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sélectionné" for "sélectionner" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sélectionné" is an adjective and "sélectionner" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sélectionné" or "sélectionner"?
"sélectionné" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,901 in our French list, against #12,871 for "sélectionner". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "sélectionné" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sélectionner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #371,631 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sélectionné" and "sélectionner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sélectionner vs sélectionnez". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #371,631 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