Which to use
“encourager” and “encouragez” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,857
- “encourager” frequency rank
- #48,492
- “encouragez” frequency rank
- 53349
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | encourager | encouragez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Inciter à avoir du courage. | Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de encourager. |
Same sound, different letters: encourager vs encouragez
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 9 letters. encourager and encouragez follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Same sound, different spelling - encourager / encouragez
This is the hard kind. encourager and encouragez are pronounced identically (\ɑ̃.ku.ʁa.ʒe\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by a single letter - r in “encourager” becomes z in “encouragez”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53349, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
encourager is recorded at frequency rank #4,857, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.ku.ʁa.ʒe\. encouragez is at rank #48,492, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.ku.ʁa.ʒe\.
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 53349, this pair ranks #141,320 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of encourager vs encouragez
Shared letters: acegnoru. Private to "encourager": -. Private to "encouragez": z.
"encourager" · 10 letters · shape VCCVVCVCVC · "encouragez" · 10 letters · shape VCCVVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- encourager ← ecnourager · enccourager · encoruager · encouarger · encouraegr · encouragerr · encouragger · encouragre
- encouragez ← ecnouragez · enccouragez · encoruagez · encouargez · encouraegz · encouragezz · encouraggez · encouragze
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "encourager" for "encouragez" ever safe?
Which is more common, "encourager" or "encouragez"?
What to do next
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "encourager" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "encouragez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #141,320 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "encourager" and "encouragez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "encouragées vs encouragez". 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 #141,320 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.