emparésvséparsesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: emparés is a verb, éparses is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“emparés” is a verb and “éparses” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,585
“emparés” frequency rank
#38,116
“éparses” frequency rank
68701
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature emparés éparses
Definition Participe passé masculin pluriel de emparer. Féminin pluriel de épars.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set emparés and éparses apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
emparés
7 ch
éparses

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: emparés is \ɑ̃.pa.ʁe\ while éparses is \e.paʁs\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 6 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68701, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

emparés is recorded at frequency rank #30,585, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.pa.ʁe\. éparses is at rank #38,116, tagged as anadj, pronounced \e.paʁs\.

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 68701, this pair ranks #58,045 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of emparés vs éparses

Shared letters: aeprsé. Private to "emparés": m. Private to "éparses": -.

"emparés" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "éparses" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Frequency comparison

emparés#30,585
éparses#38,116

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "emparés" and "éparses" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "emparés" is a verb and "éparses" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "emparés" or "éparses"?
"emparés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,585 in our French list, against #38,116 for "éparses". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering emparés vs éparses

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “emparés”; for an adjective, it's “éparses”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “emparés” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list