eavsépWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: ea is a symbol, ép is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ea” is a symbol and “ép” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,027
“ea” frequency rank
#36,216
“ép” frequency rank
50243
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ea ép
Definition Symbole de 개, classificateur général pour les inanimés. Presser; pressurer; exprimer; fouler.

Letter map: ea vs ép

Shared letters muted; letters that set ea and ép apart highlighted. No shared letter run.

2 ch
ea
2 ch
ép

Role in the sentence - ea and ép

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ea is asymbol and épaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50243, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ea is recorded at frequency rank #14,027, classified as asymbol. ép is at rank #36,216, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛp˦˥\.

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 50243, this pair ranks #164,171 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ea vs ép

Shared letters: none. Private to "ea": ae. Private to "ép": .

"ea" · 2 letters · shape VV  ·  "ép" · 2 letters · shape VC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ea" and "ép" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ea" is a symbol and "ép" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "ea" or "ép" show up more?
"ea" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,027 in our French list, against #36,216 for "ép". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "ea" and "ép". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ea" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ép" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #164,171 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ea" and "ép" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ép vs EPO". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #164,171 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