Which to use
“empêcha” is a verb and “empêchée” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,520
- “empêcha” frequency rank
- #29,758
- “empêchée” frequency rank
- 64278
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | empêcha | empêchée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de empêcher. | Féminin singulier de empêché. |
Where the eye mixes empêcha and empêchée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. empêcha runs 7 letters (VCCVCCV) against empêchée's 8 (VCCVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses empêcha with empêchée
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: empêcha is \ɑ̃.pɛ.ʃa\ while empêchée is \ɑ̃.pɛ.ʃe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64278, 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\. empêchée is at rank #29,758, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɑ̃.pɛ.ʃe\.
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 64278, this pair ranks #77,828 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of empêcha vs empêchée
Shared letters: cehmpê. Private to "empêcha": a. Private to "empêchée": é.
"empêcha" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "empêchée" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "empêcha" for "empêchée" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "empêcha" or "empêchée" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "empêcha" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "empêchée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #77,828 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "empêcha" and "empêchée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empêcha vs empoche". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #77,828 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.