Which to use
“empêcha” and “empêchait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,520
- “empêcha” frequency rank
- #18,473
- “empêchait” frequency rank
- 52993
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | empêcha | empêchait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de empêcher. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de empêcher. |
Where the eye mixes empêcha and empêchait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. empêcha runs 7 letters (VCCVCCV) against empêchait's 9 (VCCVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between empêcha and empêchait
A purely visual mix-up. empêcha (\ɑ̃.pɛ.ʃa\) and empêchait (\ɑ̃.pɛ.ʃɛ\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “empêcha” sits inside “empêchait”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52993, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
empêcha is recorded at frequency rank #34,520, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.pɛ.ʃa\. empêchait is at rank #18,473, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.pɛ.ʃɛ\.
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 52993, this pair ranks #143,824 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of empêcha vs empêchait
Shared letters: acehmpê. Private to "empêcha": -. Private to "empêchait": it.
"empêcha" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "empêchait" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "empêcha" and "empêchait" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "empêcha" vs "empêchait" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "empêcha" and "empêchait" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "empêcha" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "empêchait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #143,824 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "empêcha" and "empêchait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empêcha vs empoche". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #143,824 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.