témoignévstémoinsWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#17,584
“témoigné” frequency rank
#2,973
“témoins” frequency rank
20557
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature témoigné témoins
Definition Participe passé masculin singulier de témoigner. Pluriel de témoin.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set témoigné and témoins apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
témoigné
7 ch
témoins

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: témoigné is \te.mwa.ɲe\ while témoins is \te.mwɛ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20557, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

témoigné is recorded at frequency rank #17,584, classified as averb, pronounced \te.mwa.ɲe\. témoins is at rank #2,973, tagged as anoun, pronounced \te.mwɛ̃\.

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 20557, this pair ranks #367,671 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of témoigné vs témoins

Shared letters: imnoté. Private to "témoigné": g. Private to "témoins": s.

"témoigné" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV  ·  "témoins" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC

Frequency comparison

témoigné#17,584
témoins#2,973

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "témoigné" and "témoins" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "témoigné" is a verb and "témoins" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "témoigné" or "témoins"?
"témoins" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,973 in our French list, against #17,584 for "témoigné". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering témoigné vs témoins

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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