Which to use
“efface” is a noun and “effacera” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,492
- “efface” frequency rank
- #49,624
- “effacera” frequency rank
- 60116
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | efface | effacera |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Petit cube de caoutchouc qui sert à effacer ce qui a été écrit avec un crayon de plomb. | Troisième personne du singulier du futur de effacer. |
Where the eye mixes efface and effacera
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. efface runs 6 letters (VCCVCV) against effacera's 8 (VCCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between efface and effacera
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: efface is \e.fas\ while effacera is \e.fa.sə.ʁa\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “efface” sits inside “effacera”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60116, 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\. effacera is at rank #49,624, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.fa.sə.ʁa\.
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 60116, this pair ranks #99,382 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of efface vs effacera
Shared letters: acef. Private to "efface": -. Private to "effacera": r.
"efface" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "effacera" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "efface" and "effacera" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "efface" or "effacera"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "efface" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "effacera" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #99,382 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "efface" and "effacera" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "effacées 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 #99,382 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.