empêcha vs empêche, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#34,520
“empêcha” frequency rank: #2,122
“empêche” frequency rank: 36642
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	empêcha	empêche
Definition	Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de empêcher.	Personne qui porte malheur aux pêcheurs.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set empêcha and empêche apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

empêcha

7 ch

empêche

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: empêcha is \ɑ̃.pɛ.ʃa\ while empêche is \ɑ̃.pɛʃ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “empêcha” becomes e in “empêche”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36642, 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\. empêche is at rank #2,122, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃.pɛʃ\.

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 36642, this pair ranks #268,168 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of empêcha vs empêche

Shared letters: cehmpê. Private to "empêcha": a. Private to "empêche": -.

"empêcha" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "empêche" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV

Frequency comparison

empêcha#34,520

empêche#2,122

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "empêcha" and "empêche" be used interchangeably?

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

Which is more common, "empêcha" or "empêche"?

"empêche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,122 in our French list, against #34,520 for "empêcha". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering empêcha vs empêche

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “empêcha”; for a noun, it's “empêche”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “empêcha” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable