Which to use
“empêcher” and “empocher” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,591
- “empêcher” frequency rank
- #38,780
- “empocher” frequency rank
- 40371
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | empêcher | empocher |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Entraver quelqu’un dans la réalisation de quelque chose. | Mettre en poche, en parlant surtout de l'argent ou de toute chose précieuse. |
Where the eye mixes empêcher and empocher
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. empêcher and empocher follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses empêcher with empocher
A purely visual mix-up. empêcher (\ɑ̃.pe.ʃe\) and empocher (\ɑ̃.pɔ.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 a single letter - ê in “empêcher” becomes o in “empocher”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40371, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
empêcher is recorded at frequency rank #1,591, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.pe.ʃe\. empocher is at rank #38,780, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.pɔ.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 40371, this pair ranks #241,034 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of empêcher vs empocher
Shared letters: cehmpr. Private to "empêcher": ê. Private to "empocher": o.
"empêcher" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "empocher" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- empocher ← emmpocher · emopcher · empcoher · empoccher · empocehr · empocherr · empochher · empochre
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "empêcher" and "empocher" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "empêcher" or "empocher" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "empêcher" and "empocher" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "empêcher" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "empocher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #241,034 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "empêcher" and "empocher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empoche vs empocher". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #241,034 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.