utilisavsutiliséeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,068
“utilisa” frequency rank
#2,974
“utilisée” frequency rank
43042
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature utilisa utilisée
Definition Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de utiliser. Participe passé féminin singulier de utiliser.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
utilisa
8 ch
utilisée

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. utilisa (\y.ti.li.za\) and utilisée (\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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43042, 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\. utilisée is at rank #2,974, 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 43042, this pair ranks #221,062 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of utilisa vs utilisée

Shared letters: ilstu. Private to "utilisa": a. Private to "utilisée": .

"utilisa" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV  ·  "utilisée" · 8 letters · shape VCVCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

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

Frequency comparison

utilisa#40,068
utilisée#2,974

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "utilisa" and "utilisée" 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 "utilisée"?
"utilisée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,974 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 utilisée

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