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Tara
VIP April 2012

Fiancé vs. Fiancée - I just learned something! lol

Tara, on March 6, 2011 at 9:53 PM Posted in Etiquette and Advice 0 22

Who knew! "Fiancé vs. Fiancée: No, these spellings are not interchangeable. There is quite a significant difference between them, in fact. Fiancé refers to a male engaged to be married, while fiancée refers to a female engaged to be married."

22 Comments

Latest activity by Judith, on March 30, 2019 at 4:02 AM
  • 2d Bride
    Champion October 2009
    2d Bride ·
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    Ah, yes! When I was engaged, I always referred to my fiancée, figuring everyone would know that meant she was another woman. But every once in a while I ran into someone who didn't know that, and things got confused really fast. LOL

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  • Patricia
    Master December 2011
    Patricia ·
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    Yes, I speak french so I've always known but I'm not surprised that some people don't know because they're not english word and most people are not familiar with french grammar. It's understandable

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  • Tara
    VIP April 2012
    Tara ·
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    @ 2nd bride that's funny! @ Patricia you make me want to learn French! Smiley smile I studied English in college, but never French. Very beautiful language! ...And the only to have a word like fiance/ee, right?

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  • Hollywoll
    VIP June 2011
    Hollywoll ·
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    Like Patricia, French taught me the difference. There are several words like that in the English language that people don't know about.

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  • Patricia
    Master December 2011
    Patricia ·
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    That's right Montara. Very beautiful language, we're gonna add some french in our ceremony so our grandparents understand, I love the language, but I'm losing my touch since I don't practice too often. It's complicated, but if you really want to learn it, it'll be easy..

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  • Lise Ramos
    Lise Ramos ·
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    Touche'

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  • STB Mrs. Potts
    VIP September 2011
    STB Mrs. Potts ·
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    I knew they were different, but i didnt know which one was which. Before I remembered I could google it, I am pretty sure i had them confused. lol. I referred to FH via FB as my fiancee a few times. Since then I have corrected myself. lol

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  • Tara
    VIP April 2012
    Tara ·
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    Well I was on FB trying to refer to FH and typed fiance...then added an e...then noticed that I didn't get a spell check error for either, and I was like what the what? lol

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  • Nik_McAwesomepants
    Master October 2011
    Nik_McAwesomepants ·
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    Definitely did not know that lol. Never too French. I always thought it was funny to use the English equivalent of betrothed :-) Really throws people off

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  • Tracy
    VIP September 2011
    Tracy ·
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    I took three years of French, but I don't think they ever taught me that lol. I knew the difference anyway, but it took me a little bit to realize there were even two ways to spell it.

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  • Anonymous
    Super July 2011
    Anonymous ·
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    Oh oops

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  • Nancy Taussig
    Nancy Taussig ·
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    I got an e-mail inquiry from "Pat" about getting married to "fiance" Kelly. So, I'm e-mailing back & forth with whom I think is Patricia. Until I got a phone call from a man saying, "Hi, this is Pat -- you're marrying me to my girlfriend Kelly." His mistake = my confusion! The 3 of us got a chuckle out of it.

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  • Ms. Boop
    Super June 2012
    Ms. Boop ·
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    Didn't know that. I had a cousin that always say my fiooonnnnsssaaayyyy lol

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  • FMS, the barefoot wife!
    Master August 2010
    FMS, the barefoot wife! ·
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    I did know that! 6 years of french will do that to ya!

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  • S
    VIP March 2011
    STB Mrs Van Blargan ·
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    Yep, I learned that back in highschool.

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  • northbeach
    Dedicated October 2011
    northbeach ·
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    For us non-French speakers, are the two terms pronounced differently as well?

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  • Carole M (a.k.a "old tart")
    Master October 2011
    Carole M (a.k.a "old tart") ·
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    Good question North Beach!

    I am fluent in Spanish. I could never master the lovely French accent.

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  • Patricia
    Master December 2011
    Patricia ·
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    @Northbeach, they're both pronounced the same way, when speaking people will automaticaly assume that you're talking about the opposite sex (That's not always right, read 2d bride post) but in writing it's much more difficult to figure out. Nancy gave a perfect example, I personnaly don't care how it's written, I've never had an issue with it, but I can see the confusion when everyone is not spelling it right.

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  • P
    Just Said Yes June 2015
    Private User ·
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    Betroth-English version for "engaged to" aka Fiancé/e. Seems simpler, although sounds like an old word, that English people wouldn't understand.

    When was the last time you saw that word on forms asking marital status? Never.

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  • Lynnie
    WeddingWire Administrator October 2016
    Lynnie ·
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    You are correct! Fiance is a french word, so the male version is fiance and the female version is fiancee!

    For more etiquette tips and wedding inspiration, check out the Inspiration section on WW!

    https://www.weddingwire.com/wedding-ideas

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