Which to use
“émoi” and “ems” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,825
- “émoi” frequency rank
- #35,925
- “ems” frequency rank
- 60750
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | émoi | ems |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forte inquiétude. | Pluriel de em. |
Where the eye mixes émoi and ems
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. émoi runs 4 letters (VCVV) against ems's 3 (VCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: émoi vs ems
A purely visual mix-up. émoi (\e.mwa\) and ems (\ɛm\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60750, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
émoi is recorded at frequency rank #24,825, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.mwa\. ems is at rank #35,925, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛm\.
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 60750, this pair ranks #95,954 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of émoi vs ems
Shared letters: m. Private to "émoi": ioé. Private to "ems": es.
"émoi" · 4 letters · shape VCVV · "ems" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "émoi" for "ems" ever safe?
Frequency check: "émoi" vs "ems" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "émoi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ems" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #95,954 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "émoi" and "ems" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "émit vs ems". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #95,954 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.