soignévssoignerWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#10,948
“soigné” frequency rank
#4,714
“soigner” frequency rank
15662
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature soigné soigner
Definition Qui est fait avec soin, où l’on voit du soin. Avoir soin de quelqu’un ou de quelque chose.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set soigné and soigner apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
soigné
7 ch
soigner

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: soigné is anadjective and soigneraverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15662, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

soigné is recorded at frequency rank #10,948, classified as anadj. soigner is at rank #4,714, tagged as averb, pronounced \swa.ɲe\.

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 15662, this pair ranks #391,392 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of soigné vs soigner

Shared letters: ginos. Private to "soigné": é. Private to "soigner": er.

"soigné" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "soigner" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • soignerosigner · siogner · soginer · soigenr · soiggner · soignerr · soignner · soignre

Frequency comparison

soigné#10,948
soigner#4,714

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "soigné" and "soigner" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "soigné" is an adjective and "soigner" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "soigné" or "soigner"?
"soigner" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,714 in our French list, against #10,948 for "soigné". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering soigné vs soigner

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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