Which to use
“empêche” is a noun and “empêchée” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,122
- “empêche” frequency rank
- #29,758
- “empêchée” frequency rank
- 31880
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | empêche | empêchée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Personne qui porte malheur aux pêcheurs. | Féminin singulier de empêché. |
Where the eye mixes empêche and empêchée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. empêche 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 empêche with empêchée
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: empêche is \ɑ̃.pɛʃ\ 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31880, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
empêche is recorded at frequency rank #2,122, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃.pɛʃ\. 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 31880, this pair ranks #300,983 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of empêche vs empêchée
Shared letters: cehmpê. Private to "empêche": -. Private to "empêchée": é.
"empêche" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "empêchée" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "empêche" for "empêchée" ever safe?
Frequency check: "empêche" vs "empêchée" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "empêche" 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 #300,983 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "empêche" and "empêchée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empêchée vs empoche". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #300,983 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.