échappéesvséchapperWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#38,111
“échappées” frequency rank
#2,975
“échapper” frequency rank
41086
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature échappées échapper
Definition Féminin pluriel de échappé. Se sauver des mains de quelqu’un, d’une prison, de quelque péril, etc.

Same sound, different letters: échappées vs échapper

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. échappées runs 9 letters (VCCVCCVVC) against échapper's 8 (VCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
échappées
8 ch
échapper

Homophone desk: échappées vs échapper

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: échappées and échapper carry the same recorded pronunciation, \e.ʃa.pe\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41086, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

échappées is recorded at frequency rank #38,111, classified as anadj, 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 41086, this pair ranks #235,638 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of échappées vs échapper

Shared letters: acehpé. Private to "échappées": s. Private to "échapper": r.

"échappées" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVVC  ·  "échapper" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "échappées" and "échapper" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "échappées" is an adjective and "échapper" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "échappées" or "échapper" show up more?
"échapper" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,975 in our French list, against #38,111 for "échappées". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

You've separated the homophone pair "échappées" / "échapper". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.

  • Full dictionary entry for "échappées" 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 #235,638 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "échappées" and "échapper" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "échappées vs échoppes". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #235,638 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