emparés vs espaces, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#30,585
“emparés” frequency rank: #3,253
“espaces” frequency rank: 33838
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	emparés	espaces
Definition	Participe passé masculin pluriel de emparer.	Pluriel de espace.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch

emparés

7 ch

espaces

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: emparés is \ɑ̃.pa.ʁe\ while espaces is \ɛs.pas\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 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 33838, 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\. espaces is at rank #3,253, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛs.pas\.

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 33838, this pair ranks #287,940 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of emparés vs espaces

Shared letters: aeps. Private to "emparés": mré. Private to "espaces": c.

"emparés" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "espaces" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

espaces ← epsaces · esapces · espacces · espacess · espacse · espaecs · espcaes · esppaces

Frequency comparison

emparés#30,585

espaces#3,253

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "emparés" and "espaces" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "emparés" is a verb and "espaces" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "emparés" or "espaces"?

"espaces" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,253 in our French list, against #30,585 for "emparés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering emparés vs espaces

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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