Which to use
“élans” and “exams” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,199
- “élans” frequency rank
- #33,252
- “exams” frequency rank
- 62451
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | élans | exams |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de élan. | Pluriel de exam. |
Where the eye mixes élans and exams
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. élans and exams follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses élans with exams
A purely visual mix-up. élans (\e.lɑ̃\) and exams (\ɛɡ.zam\) 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 62451, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
élans is recorded at frequency rank #29,199, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.lɑ̃\. exams is at rank #33,252, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛɡ.zam\.
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 62451, this pair ranks #87,059 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of élans vs exams
Shared letters: as. Private to "élans": lné. Private to "exams": emx.
"élans" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC · "exams" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- exams ← eaxms · examms · examss · exasm · exmas · exxams · xeams
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "élans" for "exams" ever safe?
Which is more common, "élans" or "exams"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "élans" and "exams" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "élans" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "exams" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #87,059 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "élans" and "exams" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ela vs élans". 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 #87,059 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.