énerventvsénerverConfusable pair

Which to use

“énervent” and “énerver” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#33,528
“énervent” frequency rank
#10,619
“énerver” frequency rank
44147
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature énervent énerver
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de énerver. Agacer en produisant une irritation nerveuse.

Where the eye mixes énervent and énerver

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. énervent runs 8 letters (VCVCCVCC) against énerver's 7 (VCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
énervent
7 ch
énerver

Visual trap between énervent and énerver

A purely visual mix-up. énervent (\e.nɛʁv\) and énerver (\e.nɛʁ.ve\) 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 44147, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

énervent is recorded at frequency rank #33,528, classified as averb, pronounced \e.nɛʁv\. énerver is at rank #10,619, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.nɛʁ.ve\.

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 44147, this pair ranks #212,687 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of énervent vs énerver

Shared letters: enrvé. Private to "énervent": t. Private to "énerver": -.

"énervent" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCC  ·  "énerver" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "énervent" and "énerver" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\e.nɛʁv\ versus \e.nɛʁ.ve\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "énervent" or "énerver" show up more?
"énerver" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,619 in our French list, against #33,528 for "énervent". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "énervent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "énerver" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #212,687 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "énervent" and "énerver" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "énervent vs entravent". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #212,687 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