Which to use
“emballe” and “embelli” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,609
- “emballe” frequency rank
- #45,581
- “embelli” frequency rank
- 67190
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | emballe | embelli |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de emballer. | Participe passé masculin singulier de embellir. |
Where the eye mixes emballe and embelli
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. emballe and embelli follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses emballe with embelli
A purely visual mix-up. emballe (\ɑ̃.bal\) and embelli (\ɑ̃.be.li\) 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 67190, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
emballe is recorded at frequency rank #21,609, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.bal\. embelli is at rank #45,581, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.be.li\.
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 67190, this pair ranks #64,500 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of emballe vs embelli
Shared letters: belm. Private to "emballe": a. Private to "embelli": i.
"emballe" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "embelli" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "emballe" for "embelli" ever safe?
Which is more common, "emballe" or "embelli"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "emballe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "embelli" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #64,500 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "emballe" and "embelli" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "embelli vs embellit". 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 #64,500 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.