Which to use
“arêtes” is a noun and “arrêtez” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,766
- “arêtes” frequency rank
- #2,352
- “arrêtez” frequency rank
- 26118
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | arêtes | arrêtez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de arête. | Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent du verbe arrêter. |
Where the eye mixes arêtes and arrêtez
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. arêtes runs 6 letters (VCVCVC) against arrêtez's 7 (VCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses arêtes with arrêtez
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: arêtes is \a.ʁɛt\ while arrêtez is \a.ʁɛ.te\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26118, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
arêtes is recorded at frequency rank #23,766, classified as anoun, pronounced \a.ʁɛt\. arrêtez is at rank #2,352, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.ʁɛ.te\.
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 26118, this pair ranks #337,011 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of arêtes vs arrêtez
Shared letters: aertê. Private to "arêtes": s. Private to "arrêtez": z.
"arêtes" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC · "arrêtez" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "arêtes" and "arrêtez" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "arêtes" or "arrêtez" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "arêtes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "arrêtez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #337,011 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "arêtes" and "arrêtez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "arêtes vs Artis". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #337,011 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.