arrêtsvsartsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,631
“arrêts” frequency rank
#1,692
“arts” frequency rank
7323
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature arrêts arts
Definition Défense qui est faite à un officier de sortir de chez lui, ou de s’éloigner d’un lieu déterminé. Pluriel de art.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set arrêts and arts apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
arrêts
4 ch
arts

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. arrêts (\a.ʁɛ\) and arts (\aʁ\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7323, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

arrêts is recorded at frequency rank #5,631, classified as anoun, pronounced \a.ʁɛ\. arts is at rank #1,692, tagged as anoun, pronounced \aʁ\.

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 7323, this pair ranks #423,515 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of arrêts vs arts

Shared letters: arst. Private to "arrêts": ê. Private to "arts": -.

"arrêts" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC  ·  "arts" · 4 letters · shape VCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • artsarrts · arst · artss · artts · atrs

Frequency comparison

arrêts#5,631
arts#1,692

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "arrêts" and "arts" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\a.ʁɛ\ versus \aʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "arrêts" or "arts"?
"arts" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,692 in our French list, against #5,631 for "arrêts". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering arrêts vs arts

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “arrêts” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list