eldervsévierWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: elder is a adjective, évier is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“elder” is an adjective and “évier” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#45,009
“elder” frequency rank
#20,029
“évier” frequency rank
65038
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature elder évier
Definition Comparatif de older. Table en céramique, en métal ou en pierre, comportant un bassin creusé dans lequel on lave la vaisselle, et qui a un trou pour l’écoulement des eaux.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set elder and évier apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
elder
5 ch
évier

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: elder is \ˈɛl.dɚ\ while évier is \e.vje\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65038, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

elder is recorded at frequency rank #45,009, classified as anadj, pronounced \ˈɛl.dɚ\. évier is at rank #20,029, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.vje\.

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 65038, this pair ranks #74,161 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of elder vs évier

Shared letters: er. Private to "elder": dl. Private to "évier": ivé.

"elder" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "évier" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • elderedler · eldder · elderr · eldre · eledr · ellder · leder

Frequency comparison

elder#45,009
évier#20,029

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "elder" and "évier" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "elder" is an adjective and "évier" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "elder" or "évier"?
"évier" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,029 in our French list, against #45,009 for "elder". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering elder vs évier

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “elder”; for a noun, it's “évier”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “elder” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list