Which to use
“émoi” and “étai” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,825
- “émoi” frequency rank
- #48,289
- “étai” frequency rank
- 73114
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | émoi | étai |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forte inquiétude. | Pièce de bois ou de fer utilisée pour soutenir une construction qui menace de s’écrouler, ou qui est en travaux. |
Where the eye mixes émoi and étai
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. émoi and étai follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses émoi with étai
A purely visual mix-up. émoi (\e.mwa\) and étai (\e.tɛ\) 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 73114, 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\. étai is at rank #48,289, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.tɛ\.
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 73114, this pair ranks #41,568 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of émoi vs étai
Shared letters: ié. Private to "émoi": mo. Private to "étai": at.
"émoi" · 4 letters · shape VCVV · "étai" · 4 letters · shape VCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "émoi" for "étai" ever safe?
Frequency check: "émoi" vs "étai" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "émoi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étai" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #41,568 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "émoi" and "étai" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "étai vs étuis". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #41,568 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.