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 eye mixes empêcha and empêche
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. empêcha and empêche follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: empêcha vs empêche
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "empêcha" and "empêche" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "empêcha" vs "empêche" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "empêcha" and "empêche" 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 "empêche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #268,168 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "empêcha" and "empêche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empêcha vs empoche". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #268,168 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.