French Accent Homographs

You may not realize it, but French accents have a purpose. While some accents just signify that an S used to follow that vowel in Old French (e.g., étudiant used to be spelled estudiant), most French accents indicate the correct pronunciation of the letter they modify. In addition, there are dozens of French word pairs which are spelled (though not always pronounced) the same other than accents. To avoid confusion, you should always distinguish between these words by using the correct accents.*


la - (definite article) the; (direct object pronoun) her, it
là - (adverb) there

levé - survey; past participle of lever (to lift, raise)
lève - first and third person singular of lever (applies to many stem-changing verbs)

liquide - liquid
liquidé - past participle of liquider (to settle, pay; to liquidate, sell off; [inf] to finish off)

mais - (conjunction) but
maïs - corn

marche - walking, step, stair
marché - market; past participle of marcher (to walk, march; to work)

masse - mass
massé - past participle of masser (to assemble, mass, group)

mat - checkmate; (adjective) matte, dull
mât - mast, pole

mater - to subdue; (familiar) to ogle; to caulk; (familiar noun) mom, mum
mâter - to mast

mémé - (baby talk) granny
même - (adverb) same

meuble - piece of furniture
meublé - (adjective) furnished

modelé - contours, relief; past participle of modeler (to model, shape, style, mold)
modèle - model, design

mur - wall
mûr - (adjective) ripe

notre - (possessive adjective) our
nôtre - (possessive pronoun) ours

nuance - shade, hue, slight difference, nuance
nuancé - (adjective) qualified, balanced, nuanced; past participle of nuancer (to shade, qualify, nuance)

ou - (conjunction) or
où - (adverb) where

pâte - pastry, paste; pâtes - pasta
pâté - pâté

péché - past participle of pécher
pêche - peach, fishing

pécher - to sin
pêcher - to fish

pécheur - sinner
pêcheur - fisherman

prête - (feminine adjective) ready
prêté - past participle of prêter (to lend)

rate - spleen
raté - past participle of rater (to fail, miss)

relâche - rest, respite
relâché - loose, lax

reste - rest, leftover
resté - past participle of rester (to stay)

retraite - retreat, retirement
retraité - retired person; past participle of retraiter (to reprocess)

rot - belch, burp
rôt - (archaic) roast

roue - wheel
roué - (adj) cunning, sly; un roué - cunning/sly person; past participle of rouer (to beat/thrash)

roule - first and third person singular of rouler (to wheel/roll along)
roulé - curved, rolled

sale - dirty
salé - salty

sinistre (adj) gloomy, sinister; (m noun) accident, disaster, damage
sinistré (adj) stricken, devastated; (m noun) disaster victim

sublime - sublime
sublimé - sublimated

suicide - act of suicide
suicidé - victim of suicide

sur - (preposition) on
sûr - (adjective) sure

tache - mark, spot, stain
tâche - task

valide - able-bodied, fit, valid
validé - validated

vide - empty
vidé - worn out; past participle of vider (to empty; to wear out)

votre - (possessive adjective) your
vôtre - (possessive pronoun) yours


More accent homographs: A to J | L to V | Quiz


*It is grammatically acceptable to leave accents off capital letters. However, since missing accents may cause confusion in pronunciation and meaning and are technically spelling mistakes, I feel that one should always write with accents.

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