arrêtesvsarrêtonsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,116
“arrêtes” frequency rank
#13,324
“arrêtons” frequency rank
23440
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature arrêtes arrêtons
Definition Deuxième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent du verbe arrêter. Première personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent du verbe arrêter.

Where the eye mixes arrêtes and arrêtons

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. arrêtes runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against arrêtons's 8 (VCCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
arrêtes
8 ch
arrêtons

Why the eye confuses arrêtes with arrêtons

A purely visual mix-up. arrêtes (\a.ʁɛt\) and arrêtons (\a.ʁɛ.tɔ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23440, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

arrêtes is recorded at frequency rank #10,116, classified as averb, pronounced \a.ʁɛt\. arrêtons is at rank #13,324, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.ʁɛ.tɔ̃\.

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 23440, this pair ranks #352,469 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of arrêtes vs arrêtons

Shared letters: arstê. Private to "arrêtes": e. Private to "arrêtons": no.

"arrêtes" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "arrêtons" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "arrêtes" for "arrêtons" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\a.ʁɛt\ versus \a.ʁɛ.tɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "arrêtes" or "arrêtons"?
"arrêtes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,116 in our French list, against #13,324 for "arrêtons". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "arrêtes" and "arrêtons" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "arrêtes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "arrêtons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #352,469 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "arrêtes" and "arrêtons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "arrêterons vs arrêtons". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #352,469 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