il n’empêche que

\il n‿ɑ̃.pɛʃ kə\

/\il n‿ɑ̃.pɛʃ kə\/ conj

The verdict

“il n’empêche que” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a conjunction. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
16
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Toujours est-il que.

Corpus desk

Index FR-il-n-empeche-que · il n’empêche que · French

il n’empêche que · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 16 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "I" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for il n’empêche que
PropertyValue
Headwordil n’empêche que
LanguageFrench
Part of speechConjunction
IPA\il n‿ɑ̃.pɛʃ kə\
Letters16
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « il n’empêche que » en français

il n’empêche quen'entre pas dans le top 100.000 du français: zone de termes techniques, archaïques ou rares.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

il n’empêche que is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as aconjunction, transcribed \il n‿ɑ̃.pɛʃ kə\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Toujours est-il que.".

No misspelling variants are generated for il n’empêche que in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is il n’empêche que, spelled I-L- -N-’-E-M-P-Ê-C-H-E- -Q-U-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Toujours est-il que.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how il n’empêche que appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Le mégalithisme n’est donc pas l’apanage du néolithique. Il n’empêche que la répartition mondiale du mégalithisme astronomique est axée autour des zones de climat favorable à l'agriculture […].
  2. Il n’empêche que Chateaubriand, Lamartine, Hugo (sans parler des autres) sont de gigantesques barricades à eux seuls contre l’ignorance, la bêtise et la régression en cours.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "il n’empêche que"?
"il n’empêche que" is spelled I-L- -N-’-E-M-P-Ê-C-H-E- -Q-U-E. The IPA pronunciation is \il n‿ɑ̃.pɛʃ kə\.
What does "il n’empêche que" mean?
As a conjunction, "il n’empêche que" means: Toujours est-il que.
How do you pronounce "il n’empêche que"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "il n’empêche que" is \il n‿ɑ̃.pɛʃ kə\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "il n’empêche que" come from?
"il n’empêche que" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list