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.

Note: 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.

a - third person singular of avoir (to have)
à - (preposition) to, at, in
acre - acre
âcre - (adjective) acrid, pungent
âge - age
âgé - (adjective) old
aie - first person singular subjunctive and second person singular imperative of avoir
aïe - (interjection) ouch
arriéré - (adjective) overdue, backward; (noun) backlog, arrears
arrière - back, stern, rear, aft
bronze - bronze object
bronzé - past participle of bronzer (to tan, bronze)
ça - (indefinite demonstrative pronoun) that, it
çà et là - here and there
colle - glue
collé - past participle of coller (to glue)
congres - eels
congrès - conference, congress
cote - quotation, quoted value, rating
coté - highly thought of / rated (past participle of côter)
côte - rib, slope, coastline
côté - side
crêpe - crepe (thin pancake), crepe paper
crêpé - past participle of crêper (to backcomb, crimp)
cure - cure, treatment
curé - priest; past participle of curer (to clean out)
de - (preposition) of, from
dé - thimble, die
des - (indefinite article, partitive article) some; contraction of de + les
dès - (preposition) from
différent - different
diffèrent - third person plural conjugation of différer (to differ)
du - contraction of de + le
dû - past participle of devoir (to have to)
-e vs é
At the end of -er verbs, the accent is the difference between the first and third person singular present tense and the past participle
-e - étudie, parle, visite
-é - étudié, parlé, visité
entre - (preposition) between
entré - past participle of entrer (to enter)
es - second person singular of être (to be)
ès - contraction of en + les
êtes - second person plural of être
étés - summers
eut - third person singular passé simple of avoir
eût - third person singular imperfect subjunctive of avoir
ferme - farm
fermé - past participle of fermer (to close)
fut - third person singular passé simple of être
fût - third person singular imperfect subjunctive of être

gène - gene
gêne - trouble, bother, embarrassment
gêné - (adjective) short of, embarrassed; past participle of gêner (to bother)

grade - rank, degree
gradé - officer
haler - to haul in
hâler - to tan
illustre - illustrious, renowned
illustré - illustrated
infecte - (fem adjective) revolting, filthy, obnoxious
infecté - infected, contaminated
interne (adj) internal, inner; (noun) boarder, intern
interné - inmate (of a mental hospital), internee (politics)
jeune - (adjective) young
jeûne - fasting
juge - judge
jugé - past participle of juger (to judge)
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 - past
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