One of the most difficult sounds in the French language is the long a sound \ā\, pronounced like the “ay” in “may”. There are many ways to spell it, including -ait, -et, and more. Two especially difficult suffixes to differentiate between that make this sound are é and ée.
In French, -é is the masculine past participle. You can confirm if your word contains this root by asking about it – be sure to include the stem, its language of origin, and its meaning (“does this word contain the French masculine past participle -e?”). You can do the same for -ée, which is the feminine past participle ending.
Additionally, -é is usually at the end of adjectives (like engagé, décolleté, and glacé), while -ée is more commonly seen at the end of nouns (like allée, bouchée, and chaussée).
Words of the Champions words ending in -é:
- velouté (audio)
- habitué (audio)
- communiqué (audio)
- consommé (audio)
- attaché (audio)
- outré (audio)
- diamanté (audio)
- fouetté (audio)
Words of the Champions words ending in -ée: