Which to use
“ébranle” is a verb and “érable” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,220
- “ébranle” frequency rank
- #13,499
- “érable” frequency rank
- 56719
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ébranle | érable |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de ébranler. | Genre d’arbre qui croît naturellement dans les régions tempérées à feuilles opposées, pétiolées et palmatilobées, généralement simples, dont le fruit est une disamare formée de 2 samares réunies à la base, et dont plusieurs espèces fournissent une liqueur qui peut être convertie en sucre par évaporation. |
Where the eye mixes ébranle and érable
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ébranle with érable
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ébranle is \e.bʁɑ̃l\ while érable is \e.ʁabl\. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56719, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ébranle is recorded at frequency rank #43,220, classified as averb, pronounced \e.bʁɑ̃l\. érable is at rank #13,499, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.ʁabl\.
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 56719, this pair ranks #119,349 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ébranle vs érable
Shared letters: abelré. Private to "ébranle": n. Private to "érable": -.
"ébranle" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "érable" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ébranle" for "érable" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ébranle" or "érable"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ébranle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "érable" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #119,349 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ébranle" and "érable" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ébranle vs ébranlée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #119,349 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.