émouvantvséprouvantWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,183
“émouvant” frequency rank
#27,301
“éprouvant” frequency rank
41484
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature émouvant éprouvant
Definition Qui émeut, qui fait naître de vives émotions. Qui tient de l'épreuve.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set émouvant and éprouvant apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
émouvant
9 ch
éprouvant

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. émouvant (\e.mu.vɑ̃\) and éprouvant (\e.pʁu.vɑ̃\) 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 41484, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

émouvant is recorded at frequency rank #14,183, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.mu.vɑ̃\. éprouvant is at rank #27,301, tagged as anadj, pronounced \e.pʁu.vɑ̃\.

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 41484, this pair ranks #232,746 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of émouvant vs éprouvant

Shared letters: anotuvé. Private to "émouvant": m. Private to "éprouvant": pr.

"émouvant" · 8 letters · shape VCVVCVCC  ·  "éprouvant" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCVCC

Frequency comparison

émouvant#14,183
éprouvant#27,301

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "émouvant" and "éprouvant" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\e.mu.vɑ̃\ versus \e.pʁu.vɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "émouvant" or "éprouvant"?
"émouvant" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,183 in our French list, against #27,301 for "éprouvant". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering émouvant vs éprouvant

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “émouvant” 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