utiliséevsutilisentTell them apart

Which to use

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

#2,974
“utilisée” frequency rank
#3,425
“utilisent” frequency rank
6399
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature utilisée utilisent
Definition Participe passé féminin singulier de utiliser. Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de utiliser.

Where the eye mixes utilisée and utilisent

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. utilisée runs 8 letters (VCVCVCVV) against utilisent's 9 (VCVCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
utilisée
9 ch
utilisent

Why the eye confuses utilisée with utilisent

A purely visual mix-up. utilisée (\y.ti.li.ze\) and utilisent (\y.ti.liz\) 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 6399, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

utilisée is recorded at frequency rank #2,974, classified as averb, pronounced \y.ti.li.ze\. utilisent is at rank #3,425, tagged as averb, pronounced \y.ti.liz\.

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 6399, this pair ranks #426,335 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of utilisée vs utilisent

Shared letters: eilstu. Private to "utilisée": é. Private to "utilisent": n.

"utilisée" · 8 letters · shape VCVCVCVV  ·  "utilisent" · 9 letters · shape VCVCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • utilisent ← tuilisent · uitlisent · utiilsent · utiliesnt · utilisennt · utilisentt · utilisetn · utilisnet

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "utilisée" and "utilisent" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\y.ti.li.ze\ versus \y.ti.liz\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "utilisée" or "utilisent" show up more?
"utilisée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,974 in our French list, against #3,425 for "utilisent". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "utilisée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "utilisent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #426,335 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "utilisée" and "utilisent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "utilisée vs utiliserez". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #426,335 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list