embrasevsempriseWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: embrase is a verb, emprise is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“embrase” is a verb and “emprise” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,444
“embrase” frequency rank
#8,997
“emprise” frequency rank
53441
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature embrase emprise
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de embraser. Action de prendre des terrains par expropriation.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set embrase and emprise apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
embrase
7 ch
emprise

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: embrase is \ɑ̃.bʁaz\ while emprise is \ɑ̃.pʁiz\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53441, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

embrase is recorded at frequency rank #44,444, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.bʁaz\. emprise is at rank #8,997, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃.pʁiz\.

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 53441, this pair ranks #140,718 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of embrase vs emprise

Shared letters: emrs. Private to "embrase": ab. Private to "emprise": ip.

"embrase" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV  ·  "emprise" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • embraseebmrase · embarse · embbrase · embraes · embrrase · embrsae · emmbrase · emrbase
  • empriseemmprise · empirse · empprise · empries · emprisse · emprrise · emprsie · emrpise

Frequency comparison

embrase#44,444
emprise#8,997

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "embrase" and "emprise" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "embrase" is a verb and "emprise" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "embrase" or "emprise"?
"emprise" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,997 in our French list, against #44,444 for "embrase". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering embrase vs emprise

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “embrase”; for a noun, it's “emprise”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “embrase” 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