emparésvsespèresTell them apart

Which to use

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

#30,585
“emparés” frequency rank
#39,788
“espères” frequency rank
70373
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature emparés espères
Definition Participe passé masculin pluriel de emparer. Deuxième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de espérer.

Where the eye mixes emparés and espères

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. emparés and espères follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
emparés
7 ch
espères

Visual trap between emparés and espères

A purely visual mix-up. emparés (\ɑ̃.pa.ʁe\) and espères (\ɛs.pɛʁ\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70373, 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\. espères is at rank #39,788, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛs.pɛʁ\.

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 70373, this pair ranks #51,551 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of emparés vs espères

Shared letters: eprs. Private to "emparés": amé. Private to "espères": è.

"emparés" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "espères" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "emparés" for "espères" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\ɑ̃.pa.ʁe\ versus \ɛs.pɛʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "emparés" vs "espères" - which ranks higher?
"emparés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,585 in our French list, against #39,788 for "espères". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "emparés" and "espères" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "emparés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "espères" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #51,551 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "emparés" and "espères" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "espères vs expertes". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #51,551 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list