Which to use
“empêcha” and “empoche” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,520
- “empêcha” frequency rank
- #43,408
- “empoche” frequency rank
- 77928
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | empêcha | empoche |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de empêcher. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de empocher. |
Where the eye mixes empêcha and empoche
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. empêcha and empoche 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 empoche
A purely visual mix-up. empêcha (\ɑ̃.pɛ.ʃa\) and empoche (\ɑ̃.pɔʃ\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77928, 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\. empoche is at rank #43,408, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.pɔʃ\.
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 77928, this pair ranks #27,069 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of empêcha vs empoche
Shared letters: cehmp. Private to "empêcha": aê. Private to "empoche": o.
"empêcha" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "empoche" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- empoche ← emmpoche · emopche · empcohe · empocche · empoceh · empochhe · empohce · emppoche
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "empêcha" and "empoche" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "empêcha" vs "empoche" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "empêcha" and "empoche" 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 "empoche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #27,069 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "empêcha" and "empoche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empoche vs empocher". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #27,069 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.