empêchevsempêcheraWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: empêche is a noun, empêchera is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#2,122
“empêche” frequency rank
#13,586
“empêchera” frequency rank
15708
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature empêche empêchera
Definition Personne qui porte malheur aux pêcheurs. Troisième personne du singulier du futur de empêcher.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set empêche and empêchera apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
empêche
9 ch
empêchera

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: empêche is \ɑ̃.pɛʃ\ while empêchera is \ɑ̃.pɛ.ʃə.ʁa\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “empêche” sits inside “empêchera”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15708, 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\. empêchera is at rank #13,586, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.pɛ.ʃə.ʁa\.

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 15708, this pair ranks #391,170 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of empêche vs empêchera

Shared letters: cehmpê. Private to "empêche": -. Private to "empêchera": ar.

"empêche" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV  ·  "empêchera" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV

Frequency comparison

empêche#2,122
empêchera#13,586

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "empêche" and "empêchera" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "empêche" is a noun and "empêchera" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "empêche" or "empêchera"?
"empêche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,122 in our French list, against #13,586 for "empêchera". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering empêche vs empêchera

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list