utilisavsutiliséWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“utilisa” and “utilisé” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#40,068
“utilisa” frequency rank
#1,049
“utilisé” frequency rank
41117
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature utilisa utilisé
Definition Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de utiliser. Participe passé masculin singulier de utiliser.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
utilisa
7 ch
utilisé

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. utilisa (\y.ti.li.za\) and utilisé (\y.ti.li.ze\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - a in “utilisa” becomes é in “utilisé”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41117, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

utilisa is recorded at frequency rank #40,068, classified as averb, pronounced \y.ti.li.za\. utilisé is at rank #1,049, tagged as averb, pronounced \y.ti.li.ze\.

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 41117, this pair ranks #235,456 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of utilisa vs utilisé

Shared letters: ilstu. Private to "utilisa": a. Private to "utilisé": é.

"utilisa" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV  ·  "utilisé" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • utilisatuilisa · uitlisa · utiilsa · utilias · utilissa · utillisa · utilsia · utliisa

Frequency comparison

utilisa#40,068
utilisé#1,049

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "utilisa" and "utilisé" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\y.ti.li.za\ versus \y.ti.li.ze\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "utilisa" or "utilisé"?
"utilisé" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,049 in our French list, against #40,068 for "utilisa". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering utilisa vs utilisé

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “utilisa” 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