Which to use
“élec” is a noun and “êtes” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #45,965
- “élec” frequency rank
- #362
- “êtes” frequency rank
- 46327
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | élec | êtes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Électricité. | Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de être. |
Where the eye mixes élec and êtes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: élec vs êtes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: élec is \e.lɛk\ while êtes is \ɛt\. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46327, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
élec is recorded at frequency rank #45,965, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.lɛk\. êtes is at rank #362, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛt\.
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 46327, this pair ranks #195,848 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of élec vs êtes
Shared letters: e. Private to "élec": clé. Private to "êtes": stê.
"élec" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "êtes" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "élec" for "êtes" ever safe?
Frequency check: "élec" vs "êtes" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "élec" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "êtes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #195,848 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "élec" and "êtes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "élec vs ell". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #195,848 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.