égalervsexilerTell them apart

Which to use

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

#22,741
“égaler” frequency rank
#28,165
“exiler” frequency rank
50906
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature égaler exiler
Definition Rendre égal. Envoyer en exil.

Where the eye mixes égaler and exiler

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. égaler and exiler follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
égaler
6 ch
exiler

Visual trap between égaler and exiler

A purely visual mix-up. égaler (\e.ɡa.le\) and exiler (\ɛɡ.zi.le\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50906, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

égaler is recorded at frequency rank #22,741, classified as averb, pronounced \e.ɡa.le\. exiler is at rank #28,165, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛɡ.zi.le\.

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 50906, this pair ranks #159,031 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of égaler vs exiler

Shared letters: elr. Private to "égaler": agé. Private to "exiler": ix.

"égaler" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "exiler" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • exiler ← eixler · exielr · exilerr · exiller · exilre · exlier · exxiler · xeiler

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "égaler" and "exiler" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\e.ɡa.le\ versus \ɛɡ.zi.le\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "égaler" vs "exiler" - which ranks higher?
"égaler" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,741 in our French list, against #28,165 for "exiler". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "égaler" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "exiler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #159,031 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "égaler" and "exiler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épier vs exiler". 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 #159,031 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