échappavséchapperWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#39,111
“échappa” frequency rank
#2,975
“échapper” frequency rank
42086
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature échappa échapper
Definition Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de échapper. Se sauver des mains de quelqu’un, d’une prison, de quelque péril, etc.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set échappa and échapper apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
échappa
8 ch
échapper

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. échappa (\e.ʃa.pa\) and échapper (\e.ʃa.pe\) 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 42086, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

échappa is recorded at frequency rank #39,111, classified as averb, pronounced \e.ʃa.pa\. échapper is at rank #2,975, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.ʃa.pe\.

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 42086, this pair ranks #228,337 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of échappa vs échapper

Shared letters: achpé. Private to "échappa": -. Private to "échapper": er.

"échappa" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV  ·  "échapper" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Frequency comparison

échappa#39,111
échapper#2,975

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "échappa" and "échapper" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\e.ʃa.pa\ versus \e.ʃa.pe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "échappa" or "échapper"?
"échapper" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,975 in our French list, against #39,111 for "échappa". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering échappa vs échapper

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 “échappa” 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