Which to use
“empêchement” is a noun and “empêchent” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,949
- “empêchement” frequency rank
- #9,992
- “empêchent” frequency rank
- 41941
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | empêchement | empêchent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ce qui empêche. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de empêcher. |
Where the eye mixes empêchement and empêchent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. empêchement runs 11 letters (VCCVCCVCVCC) against empêchent's 9 (VCCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: empêchement vs empêchent
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: empêchement is \ɑ̃.pɛʃ.mɑ̃\ while empêchent is \ɑ̃.pɛʃ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41941, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
empêchement is recorded at frequency rank #31,949, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃.pɛʃ.mɑ̃\. empêchent is at rank #9,992, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.pɛʃ\.
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 41941, this pair ranks #229,408 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of empêchement vs empêchent
Shared letters: cehmnptê. Private to "empêchement": -. Private to "empêchent": -.
"empêchement" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVCC · "empêchent" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "empêchement" for "empêchent" ever safe?
Which is more common, "empêchement" or "empêchent"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "empêchement" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "empêchent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #229,408 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "empêchement" and "empêchent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empêchaient vs empêchement". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #229,408 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.