apparaissevsapparaitreConfusable pair

Which to use

“apparaisse” and “apparaitre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#23,448
“apparaisse” frequency rank
#23,760
“apparaitre” frequency rank
47208
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature apparaisse apparaitre
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de apparaître (ou apparaitre). Devenir visible, se manifester.

Where the eye mixes apparaisse and apparaitre

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. apparaisse and apparaitre follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
apparaisse
10 ch
apparaitre

Visual trap between apparaisse and apparaitre

A purely visual mix-up. apparaisse (\a.pa.ʁɛs\) and apparaitre (\a.pa.ʁɛtʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47208, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

apparaisse is recorded at frequency rank #23,448, classified as averb, pronounced \a.pa.ʁɛs\. apparaitre is at rank #23,760, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.pa.ʁɛtʁ\.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 47208, this pair ranks #188,697 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of apparaisse vs apparaitre

Shared letters: aeipr. Private to "apparaisse": s. Private to "apparaitre": t.

"apparaisse" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVVCCV  ·  "apparaitre" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • apparaisse ← apapraisse · aparaisse · appaarisse · apparaise · apparaises · apparasise · appariasse · apparraisse
  • apparaitre ← apapraitre · aparaitre · appaaritre · apparairte · apparaiter · apparaitrre · apparaittre · apparatire

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "apparaisse" and "apparaitre" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\a.pa.ʁɛs\ versus \a.pa.ʁɛtʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "apparaisse" vs "apparaitre" - which ranks higher?
"apparaisse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,448 in our French list, against #23,760 for "apparaitre". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "apparaisse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "apparaitre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #188,697 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "apparaisse" and "apparaitre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apparaîtra vs apparaitre". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #188,697 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list