écartsvsétatsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,418
“écarts” frequency rank
#563
“états” frequency rank
9981
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature écarts états
Definition Pluriel de écart. Pluriel de état.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
écarts
5 ch
états

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. écarts (\e.kaʁ\) and états (\e.ta\) 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 9981, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

écarts is recorded at frequency rank #9,418, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.kaʁ\. états is at rank #563, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.ta\.

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 9981, this pair ranks #414,682 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of écarts vs états

Shared letters: asté. Private to "écarts": cr. Private to "états": -.

"écarts" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCC  ·  "états" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC

Frequency comparison

écarts#9,418
états#563

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "écarts" and "états" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\e.kaʁ\ versus \e.ta\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "écarts" or "états"?
"états" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #563 in our French list, against #9,418 for "écarts". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering écarts vs états

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 “écarts” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list