éloignentvséteignentWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#23,426
“éloignent” frequency rank
#33,946
“éteignent” frequency rank
57372
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature éloignent éteignent
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de éloigner. Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de éteindre.

Where the eye mixes éloignent and éteignent

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
éloignent
9 ch
éteignent

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. éloignent (\e.lwaɲ\) and éteignent (\e.tɛɲ\) 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 57372, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

éloignent is recorded at frequency rank #23,426, classified as averb, pronounced \e.lwaɲ\. éteignent is at rank #33,946, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.tɛɲ\.

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 57372, this pair ranks #115,437 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of éloignent vs éteignent

Shared letters: eginté. Private to "éloignent": lo. Private to "éteignent": -.

"éloignent" · 9 letters · shape VCVVCCVCC  ·  "éteignent" · 9 letters · shape VCVVCCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "éloignent" and "éteignent" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\e.lwaɲ\ versus \e.tɛɲ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "éloignent" or "éteignent"?
"éloignent" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,426 in our French list, against #33,946 for "éteignent". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list