empêchevsévêchéConfusable pair

Which to use

“empêche” and “évêché” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,122
“empêche” frequency rank
#20,030
“évêché” frequency rank
22152
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature empêche évêché
Definition Personne qui porte malheur aux pêcheurs. Institution ecclésiale rassemblant un évêque, un siège (une église cathédrale), un peuple chrétien et un diocèse (territoire soumis à l’autorité spirituelle de l'évêque d'un même lieu).

Where the eye mixes empêche and évêché

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

7 ch
empêche
6 ch
évêché

Look-alike desk: empêche vs évêché

A purely visual mix-up. empêche (\ɑ̃.pɛʃ\) and évêché (\e.ve.ʃe\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22152, 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\. évêché is at rank #20,030, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.ve.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 22152, this pair ranks #359,577 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of empêche vs évêché

Shared letters: chê. Private to "empêche": emp. Private to "évêché": .

"empêche" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV  ·  "évêché" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "empêche" and "évêché" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɑ̃.pɛʃ\ versus \e.ve.ʃe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "empêche" vs "évêché" - which ranks higher?
"empêche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,122 in our French list, against #20,030 for "évêché". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "empêche" and "évêché" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "empêche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "évêché" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #359,577 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "empêche" and "évêché" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "évêché vs évêchés". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #359,577 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list