énerventvsénervesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#33,528
“énervent” frequency rank
#31,792
“énerves” frequency rank
65320
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature énervent énerves
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de énerver. Deuxième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de énerver.

Same sound, different letters: énervent vs énerves

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. énervent runs 8 letters (VCVCCVCC) against énerves's 7 (VCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
énervent
7 ch
énerves

Ear matches; page differs - énervent and énerves

This is the hard kind. énervent and énerves are pronounced identically (\e.nɛʁv\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65320, 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\. énerves is at rank #31,792, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.nɛʁv\.

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 65320, this pair ranks #72,894 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of énervent vs énerves

Shared letters: enrvé. Private to "énervent": t. Private to "énerves": s.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "énervent" and "énerves" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are pronounced the same (\e.nɛʁv\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Frequency check: "énervent" vs "énerves" - which ranks higher?
"énerves" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,792 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.

After this comparison

"énervent" and "énerves" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.

  • Full dictionary entry for "énervent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "énerves" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #72,894 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "énervent" and "énerves" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "endives vs énerves". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #72,894 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