endivesvsenlèvesWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#47,317
“endives” frequency rank
#26,352
“enlèves” frequency rank
73669
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature endives enlèves
Definition Pluriel de endive. Deuxième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de enlever.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set endives and enlèves apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
endives
7 ch
enlèves

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: endives is \ɑ̃.div\ while enlèves is \ɑ̃.lɛv\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73669, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

endives is recorded at frequency rank #47,317, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃.div\. enlèves is at rank #26,352, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.lɛv\.

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 73669, this pair ranks #39,688 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of endives vs enlèves

Shared letters: ensv. Private to "endives": di. Private to "enlèves": .

"endives" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "enlèves" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • endivesednives · enddives · endievs · endivess · endivse · endivves · endvies · enidves

Frequency comparison

endives#47,317
enlèves#26,352

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "endives" and "enlèves" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "endives" is a noun and "enlèves" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "endives" or "enlèves"?
"enlèves" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,352 in our French list, against #47,317 for "endives". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering endives vs enlèves

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “endives”; for a verb, it's “enlèves”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “endives” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list