succédévssuccessWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: succédé is a verb, success is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“succédé” is a verb and “success” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,070
“succédé” frequency rank
#33,478
“success” frequency rank
45548
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature succédé success
Definition Participe passé masculin singulier de succéder. Succès, réussite.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set succédé and success apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
succédé
7 ch
success

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: succédé is \syk.se.de\ while success is \səkˈsɛs\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45548, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

succédé is recorded at frequency rank #12,070, classified as averb, pronounced \syk.se.de\. success is at rank #33,478, tagged as anoun, pronounced \səkˈsɛs\.

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 45548, this pair ranks #201,900 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of succédé vs success

Shared letters: csu. Private to "succédé": . Private to "success": e.

"succédé" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "success" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • successscucess · ssuccess · succses · sucecss · sucess · usccess

Frequency comparison

succédé#12,070
success#33,478

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "succédé" and "success" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "succédé" is a verb and "success" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "succédé" or "success"?
"succédé" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,070 in our French list, against #33,478 for "success". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering succédé vs success

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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