Which to use
“séparer” is a verb and “séparés” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,811
- “séparer” frequency rank
- #6,038
- “séparés” frequency rank
- 10849
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | séparer | séparés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Désunir des parties d’un même tout qui étaient jointes. | Masculin pluriel de séparé. |
Same sound, different letters: séparer vs séparés
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters. séparer and séparés follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Homophone desk: séparer vs séparés
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: séparer and séparés carry the same recorded pronunciation, \se.pa.ʁe\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10849, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
séparer is recorded at frequency rank #4,811, classified as averb, pronounced \se.pa.ʁe\. séparés is at rank #6,038, tagged as anadj, pronounced \se.pa.ʁe\.
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 10849, this pair ranks #411,438 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of séparer vs séparés
Shared letters: aprsé. Private to "séparer": e. Private to "séparés": -.
"séparer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "séparés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "séparer" for "séparés" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "séparer" or "séparés" show up more?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "séparer" / "séparés". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "séparer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "séparés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #411,438 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "séparer" and "séparés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sépales vs séparés". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #411,438 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.