Which to use
“empêchent” and “empêcher” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,992
- “empêchent” frequency rank
- #1,591
- “empêcher” frequency rank
- 11583
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | empêchent | empêcher |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de empêcher. | Entraver quelqu’un dans la réalisation de quelque chose. |
Where the eye mixes empêchent and empêcher
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. empêchent runs 9 letters (VCCVCCVCC) against empêcher's 8 (VCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses empêchent with empêcher
A purely visual mix-up. empêchent (\ɑ̃.pɛʃ\) and empêcher (\ɑ̃.pe.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 11583, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
empêchent is recorded at frequency rank #9,992, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.pɛʃ\. empêcher is at rank #1,591, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.pe.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 11583, this pair ranks #408,617 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of empêchent vs empêcher
Shared letters: cehmpê. Private to "empêchent": nt. Private to "empêcher": r.
"empêchent" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC · "empêcher" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "empêchent" for "empêcher" ever safe?
Frequency check: "empêchent" vs "empêcher" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "empêchent" and "empêcher" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "empêchent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "empêcher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #408,617 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "empêchent" and "empêcher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empêchaient vs empêchent". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #408,617 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.