embêtervsemmenerConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#13,781
“embêter” frequency rank
#6,817
“emmener” frequency rank
20598
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature embêter emmener
Definition Causer un tort ou du souci. Mener du lieu où l’on est vers un autre lieu ; utilisé plutôt en parlant de personnes ou d’objets capables de se déplacer, comme par exemple des véhicules.

Where the eye mixes embêter and emmener

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. embêter and emmener follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
embêter
7 ch
emmener

Visual trap between embêter and emmener

A purely visual mix-up. embêter (\ɑ̃.be.te\) and emmener (\ɑ̃.mə.ne\) 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 20598, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

embêter is recorded at frequency rank #13,781, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.be.te\. emmener is at rank #6,817, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.mə.ne\.

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 20598, this pair ranks #367,455 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of embêter vs emmener

Shared letters: emr. Private to "embêter": btê. Private to "emmener": n.

"embêter" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "emmener" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • emmener ← ememner · emener · emmeenr · emmenerr · emmenner · emmenre · emmneer · memener

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "embêter" and "emmener" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ɑ̃.be.te\ versus \ɑ̃.mə.ne\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "embêter" vs "emmener" - which ranks higher?
"emmener" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,817 in our French list, against #13,781 for "embêter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "embêter" and "emmener" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "embêter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "emmener" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #367,455 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "embêter" and "emmener" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "embêter vs Exeter". 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 #367,455 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list