Which to use
“efface” and “espace” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,492
- “efface” frequency rank
- #739
- “espace” frequency rank
- 11231
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | efface | espace |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Petit cube de caoutchouc qui sert à effacer ce qui a été écrit avec un crayon de plomb. | Étendue indéfinie. |
Where the eye mixes efface and espace
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between efface and espace
A purely visual mix-up. efface (\e.fas\) and espace (\ɛs.pas\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11231, 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\. espace is at rank #739, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛs.pas\.
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 11231, this pair ranks #409,925 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of efface vs espace
Shared letters: ace. Private to "efface": f. Private to "espace": ps.
"efface" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "espace" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "efface" and "espace" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "efface" or "espace"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "efface" and "espace" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "efface" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "espace" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #409,925 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "efface" and "espace" 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 #409,925 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.