testéevstêtesWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#24,051
“testée” frequency rank
#3,048
“têtes” frequency rank
27099
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature testée têtes
Definition Participe passé féminin singulier du verbe tester. Pluriel de tête.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set testée and têtes apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
testée
5 ch
têtes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: testée is \tɛs.te\ while têtes is \tɛːt\. 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 27099, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

testée is recorded at frequency rank #24,051, classified as averb, pronounced \tɛs.te\. têtes is at rank #3,048, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tɛːt\.

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 27099, this pair ranks #331,092 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of testée vs têtes

Shared letters: est. Private to "testée": é. Private to "têtes": ê.

"testée" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "têtes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Frequency comparison

testée#24,051
têtes#3,048

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "testée" and "têtes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "testée" is a verb and "têtes" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "testée" or "têtes"?
"têtes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,048 in our French list, against #24,051 for "testée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering testée vs têtes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “testée”; for a noun, it's “têtes”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “testée” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list