Which to use
“efface” is a noun and “effacer” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,492
- “efface” frequency rank
- #5,974
- “effacer” frequency rank
- 16466
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | efface | effacer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Petit cube de caoutchouc qui sert à effacer ce qui a été écrit avec un crayon de plomb. | Faire disparaître plus ou moins, en parlant de la forme, des couleurs de quelque chose. |
Where the eye mixes efface and effacer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. efface runs 6 letters (VCCVCV) against effacer's 7 (VCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: efface vs effacer
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: efface is \e.fas\ while effacer is \e.fa.se\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “efface” sits inside “effacer”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16466, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
efface is recorded at frequency rank #10,492, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.fas\. effacer is at rank #5,974, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.fa.se\.
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 16466, this pair ranks #387,714 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of efface vs effacer
Shared letters: acef. Private to "efface": -. Private to "effacer": r.
"efface" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "effacer" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "efface" for "effacer" ever safe?
Which is more common, "efface" or "effacer"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "efface" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "effacer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #387,714 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "efface" and "effacer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "efface vs effacera". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #387,714 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.