emplivsemploieWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#38,779
“empli” frequency rank
#5,240
“emploie” frequency rank
44019
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature empli emploie
Definition Opération qui consiste à remplir des moules avec du sirop de sucre cuit dans une sucrerie, ou avec du savon dans une savonnerie. Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de employer.

Where the eye mixes empli and emploie

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. empli runs 5 letters (VCCCV) against emploie's 7 (VCCCVVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
empli
7 ch
emploie

Why the eye confuses empli with emploie

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: empli is \ɑ̃.pli\ while emploie is \ɑ̃.plwa\. 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 44019, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

empli is recorded at frequency rank #38,779, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃.pli\. emploie is at rank #5,240, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.plwa\.

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 44019, this pair ranks #213,672 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of empli vs emploie

Shared letters: eilmp. Private to "empli": -. Private to "emploie": o.

"empli" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV  ·  "emploie" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • empli ← emlpi · emmpli · empil · emplli · emppli · epmli · mepli
  • emploie ← emlpoie · emmploie · emplioe · emplloie · emploei · empolie · empploie · epmloie

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "empli" for "emploie" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "empli" is a noun and "emploie" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "empli" or "emploie"?
"emploie" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,240 in our French list, against #38,779 for "empli". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "empli" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "emploie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #213,672 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "empli" and "emploie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empli vs emplit". 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 #213,672 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