Which to use
“arrêtons” is a verb and “arrêts” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,324
- “arrêtons” frequency rank
- #5,631
- “arrêts” frequency rank
- 18955
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | arrêtons | arrêts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent du verbe arrêter. | Défense qui est faite à un officier de sortir de chez lui, ou de s’éloigner d’un lieu déterminé. |
Where the eye mixes arrêtons and arrêts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. arrêtons runs 8 letters (VCCVCVCC) against arrêts's 6 (VCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses arrêtons with arrêts
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: arrêtons is \a.ʁɛ.tɔ̃\ while arrêts is \a.ʁɛ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18955, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
arrêtons is recorded at frequency rank #13,324, classified as averb, pronounced \a.ʁɛ.tɔ̃\. arrêts is at rank #5,631, tagged as anoun, pronounced \a.ʁɛ\.
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 18955, this pair ranks #375,755 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of arrêtons vs arrêts
Shared letters: arstê. Private to "arrêtons": no. Private to "arrêts": -.
"arrêtons" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC · "arrêts" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "arrêtons" and "arrêts" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "arrêtons" or "arrêts" 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 "arrêtons" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "arrêts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #375,755 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "arrêtons" and "arrêts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "arrêterons vs arrêtons". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #375,755 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.