éclipsesvséglisesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#36,668
“éclipses” frequency rank
#4,114
“églises” frequency rank
40782
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature éclipses églises
Definition Pluriel de éclipse. Pluriel de église.

Where the spellings diverge

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

8 ch
éclipses
7 ch
églises

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. éclipses (\e.klips\) and églises (\e.ɡliz\) 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 40782, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

éclipses is recorded at frequency rank #36,668, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.klips\. églises is at rank #4,114, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.ɡliz\.

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 40782, this pair ranks #237,928 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of éclipses vs églises

Shared letters: eilsé. Private to "éclipses": cp. Private to "églises": g.

"éclipses" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "églises" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Frequency comparison

éclipses#36,668
églises#4,114

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "éclipses" and "églises" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\e.klips\ versus \e.ɡliz\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "éclipses" or "églises"?
"églises" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,114 in our French list, against #36,668 for "éclipses". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering éclipses vs églises

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 “éclipses” 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