échappéevséchapperWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: échappée is a noun, échapper is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“échappée” is a noun and “échapper” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#15,543
“échappée” frequency rank
#2,975
“échapper” frequency rank
18518
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature échappée échapper
Definition Action imprudente par laquelle on s’écarte de son devoir, de sa position. Se sauver des mains de quelqu’un, d’une prison, de quelque péril, etc.

Same sound, different letters: échappée vs échapper

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. échappée (VCCVCCVV) and échapper (VCCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
échappée
8 ch
échapper

Same sound, different spelling - échappée / échapper

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: échappée and échapper carry the same recorded pronunciation, \e.ʃa.pe\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18518, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

échappée is recorded at frequency rank #15,543, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.ʃa.pe\. 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 18518, this pair ranks #377,902 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of échappée vs échapper

Shared letters: acehpé. Private to "échappée": -. Private to "échapper": r.

"échappée" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVV  ·  "échapper" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "échappée" for "échapper" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "échappée" is a noun and "échapper" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "échappée" or "échapper"?
"échapper" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,975 in our French list, against #15,543 for "échappée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.

  • Full dictionary entry for "échappée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "échapper" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #377,902 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "échappée" and "échapper" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "échappée vs échoppes". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #377,902 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